a 5^9
 
 23d Congress, [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 \st Session. 
 
 UNITED STATES BANK. 
 
 May 22, 1834. 
 
 Mr. Thomas, from the committee appointed to inves 
 
 the Bank of the United States, made the following 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 • 
 
 The committee appointed, in pursuance of a resolution of the House 
 of Representatives, passed on the 4th day of April, by which it was 
 
 Resolvedj That, for the purpose of ascertaining, as far as practicable, 
 the cause of the commercial embarrassment and distress complained of 
 by numerous citizens of the United States in sundry memorials which 
 have been presented to Congress at the present session, and of inquir- 
 ing whether the charter of the Bank of the United States has been vio- 
 lated, and also what corruptions and abuses have existed in its manage- 
 ment ; whether it has used its corporate power or money to control the 
 press, to interfere in politics, or influence elections ; and whether it has 
 had any agency, through its management or money, in producing the ex- 
 isting pressure, a select committee be appointed to inspect the books, and 
 examine into the proceedings of the said Bank, who shall report whether 
 the provisions of the charter have been violated or not ; and, also, what 
 abuses, corruptions, or malpractices have existed in the management of 
 said Bank ; and that the said committee be authorized to send for per- 
 sons and papers, send to summon and examine witnesses on oath, and to 
 examine into the aftairs of the said Bank and branches. And they are 
 further authorized to visit the principal Bank, or any of its branches, for 
 tl&e purpose of inspecting the books, correspondence, accounts, and other 
 papers connected with its management or business ; and that the said com- 
 mittee be required to report the result of such investigation, together 
 with the evidence they may take, at as early a day as practicable : 
 Respectfully submit the following report, in part, of their proceedings, 
 so far as they have found it practicable to discharge the duties devolved 
 on them. 
 
 Charged particularly to examine into the conduct and condition of the 
 43ank of the United States, they have endeavored most anxiously to as- 
 certain correctly the true character of that highly responsible and deli- 
 cate trust. 
 
 To judge rightly of the proceedings of the House of Representatives, 
 and of its committee towards the Bank, it must be borne constantly in 
 mind that that corporation ditlers essentially from an ordinary banking 
 company, incorporated for private benefit. The Bank of the United 
 
 [Gales &. Seaton, print.]
 
 o 
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 (♦as chartered for great public purposes, as an agent, deemed ne- 
 " to tbe Federal Government, in the efi&cient exercise of its high 
 ■•, to fix the V due of money, and thereby secure the benefits of 
 ulating fiti.vMum to the confederacy. 
 
 'gntu' K- Ju the Treasury Department to collect conveniently 
 the national revenue. Of its stock, the United States hold 
 of doilar*?, and its notes are by law made receivable, at 
 wj payment c ' all dues to the Government. Concede, as we 
 the Bank i established for great public ends, and that the 
 e of Representau . _ > is the grand inquest of the Union, and, as such, has 
 power to visit and insprjct all departments of the Federal Government, 
 10 coricct l^eir abuses, reform their errors, and confine the exercise ot 
 their powers withai tbe limits prescribed by law to each, and it follows 
 that the House has power to appoint a committee to make a minute and 
 full inquiry into all the multiform operations of this powerful corporation. 
 • But that there might be no doubt of the existence of the power liere con- 
 tended for, it has been expressly reserved in the 23d section of the charter 
 of the Bank, which provides "that it shall be at all times hiwful for a 
 committee of either House of Congress, aj)pointcd for that ])urpose, to in- 
 spect the books and examine into the proceedings of the corporation hereby 
 created, and to report whether the provisions of its charter have been 
 violated or not." 
 
 The language in which this authority of the House is described, is so 
 plain and s» full, that an attempt to illustrate it appears to be supereroga- 
 tory. The committee to be appointed are to " inspect the books, and to 
 examine into the proceedings of the corporation," without exception. The 
 section contains no reserved power to the Bank to designate the j)lace 
 where, or the persons in whose presence the examination shall be made. 
 These modes of exercising the main power are necessaiily, as its incidents, 
 dependent on tlie discretion of the sovereign with whom it is lodged. A 
 contrary construction would make either or both Houses of Congress de- 
 pendent on the agents whose conduct is to be the subject of inspection. 
 
 If the Bank can attach any conditions to its exercise, not found in the 
 charter, then it could render nugatory the power by which it was intended 
 it should be checked and controlled. That the great conservative pur- 
 poses for which such committees of investigation were to be appointed 
 might not be thus defeated, the extent and character of their inquiries are 
 rightly made to depend on the wisdom, patriotism, and justice of either 
 House of Congress. 
 
 The only restiiction to be found in that clause of tlicBaiik charter which 
 wo are considering, is that which relates to the committee, and not to the 
 House ; and has reference not to the extent of the examination, but to the 
 character of the report to be made. The committee is directed to report, 
 amongst other things, " whether the provisions of this charter have been 
 violated or not." The object of this specific requirement is to be found in 
 another clause of the same section of the charter, which provides, " when- 
 ever any committee, as aforesaid, shall find and i-ejiort, or the President of 
 the United States shall have reason to believe, that the charter has been 
 violated, it may be lawful for Congress to direct, or the President to order, 
 n scire facias to be sued out of the circuit court of t)ie district of Pennsyl- 
 vania, in the name of the United States, calling on the said corporation to
 
 [ Rep. No. 481 JSB^ 
 
 A " 
 
 show cause wherefore the charter hereby gr ^ ' J 
 
 ^ forfeited." 
 
 1" But if there ever had been a well-founded d 
 (J. construction of this reserved power of the Hoi 
 "^ pose it had been h)ng since yielded. 
 qI- In 1818, Mr. Spencer, of New York, olfered 
 ^ tatives a resolution providing for the appointi 
 (^ 8pect the books, and examine into the pi-ocecd 
 debate to wliich that resolution gave rise, the oj 
 your committee were well expressed by many 
 
 For j)resenting short extracts from one of the speecues tlien made, no apo- 
 logy, it is supposed, will be needed. Mr. Lowndes said he had no *^ ap- 
 prehension of defect of power in the House to prosecute the inquiry in the 
 terms jjroposed. He had no doubt of the power of the House, if the public 
 interest required it, to direct a committee to make such a report. The na- 
 tion, said he, has a deep interest in the conduct and management of the 
 Bank. Our duty to the ])eople whom we re|)i-esent, the nation's interest, 
 as owners of a large portion of the stock, its interest in the revenues being 
 wholly payable in the notes of the Bank, will justify a constant and vigi- 
 lant attention to its proceedings. If there had been a doubt whether the 
 conduct of the Bank had been propkii or not, the JIause was fully justified 
 ^in investigating into the facts, and inquiring whether abuses had been com- 
 ^mitted or not. He would vote for any inquiry, in its broadest shape." 
 ■■**• The resolution of Mr. Spencer was adopted, and a committee appoint- 
 ^ed, who visited the principal Bank at Pliiladelphia, and some of its 
 ^branches. They had free, unrestrained access to the books and papers of 
 the Bank. They were furnished by the officers with such extracts and 
 * copies from the books and papers as they called for. They summoned be- 
 fore them the directors and officers of the Bank, and examined them, on 
 ath, touching their conduct and proceedings. And the committee made 
 to the House, on the l6th January, 1819, an elaborate report, from which 
 we learn that their inquiries had been chiefly directed '' to the general 
 management of the Bank, and the conduct of its officers.'" The transactions 
 of private citizens with the Bank were then fieely and fully examined. 
 ^Individual transactions of the President and Directors of the Bank, in the 
 JQ purchase of its stock, were fully investigated, and those officers sworn and 
 required to testify before the committee. Though deeply affected, person- 
 ally and officially, by these developments, they never hesitated or objected 
 to obey the process, or to give their testimony. 
 
 The names of the borrowers from the Bank were published without scru- 
 ple, with the amount of money due from eacli, whenever, and not otherwise, 
 such a publication was deemed necessary to illustrate the improper conduct 
 or maladministration of its officers. 
 
 This precedent, to which the committee of 1832 strictly conformed, is 
 entitled to high respect from the eminent character of those by whom it 
 was established, and who have justly enjoyed high reputations for purity 
 of purpose and distinguished attainments.* 
 
 If any additional reason for deference to this contemporaneous construc- 
 tion of the 23d section of the charter be nece*?sary, it may be found in the 
 fact that the directors of the Bank in 1819 themselves assented to it. 
 They conceded to the Committee of the House the right to inspect all their 
 • The committee of 1819, were, Mr. Spencer of New York, Mr. M'Lane of Delaware^ 
 Mr. Lowndes of South Carolina, Mr. Burwell, and Mr. Tyler, of Virginia. 
 
 ^yo:ij^h ^
 
 Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 .,, ... ^^.,, manner as that committee thought just and 
 s. those wiio now have the management of the Bank, in 
 ^ ^M. !. , ■ quests n of right, without hesitation, without protest, pro- 
 .•cf, for (he inspection of the Committee of tlie House, all their books 
 •ij corresponderice, an J accounts, and appeared when summoned, and 
 •d on oath touching the transactions of the institution under their 
 control. With tliese preliminary observations, for which it is believed 
 Mmpic apology, if any be r;iquired, will be found in the subsequent portion 
 ' this report, the coi'iniitee will proceed, with a brief analysis of their 
 j,.v.v:ccuiiigs, 111 the execution of the duties devolved on them. Showing the 
 unexpected obstacles interposed by the managers of the Bank to the pro- 
 gress of tlie examination, and their repeated refusals, in violation of their 
 charter, and in contempt of the authority of the laws and of the House of 
 Representatives, to permit their books or papers to be inspected, or their 
 proceedings to be examined. 
 
 The purposes for which your committee were appointed, are stated so 
 distinctly in the resolution of the House, that they have experienced no em- 
 barrassment in deciding on the character of the duties imposed. They 
 were required, 
 
 1st. To ascertain, if practicable, the causes of thecommercial embarrass- 
 ment and distress comj)lained of by numerous citizens of the United States in 
 sundry memorials which have been presented to Congress at the present 
 session, and whether the Bank has had any agency, through its manage- 
 ment, or money, in producing the existing pressure. 
 
 2d. To inquire whether the charter of the Bank of the United States 
 has been violated, and what corrujjtions and abuses have existed in its 
 management. 
 
 Sd. To examine whether the Bank has used its corporate power or 
 money to control the press, to interfere in politics, or influence elections. 
 
 The powers designed to be conferred on the committee, if they could 
 have been exercised, are adequate to the performance of the duties enjoin- 
 ed ; they were authorized to send for persons and papers ; to summon and 
 examine witnesses on oath ; to visit, if necessary, the principal Bank and 
 its branches ; and to inspect the books, correspondence, accounts, and 
 other ])apers connected with its management. Such are the duties and 
 the powei*s of your committee, conferred on them by the House with extra- 
 ordinary unanimity, and which ytfur committee felt bound to regard, as 
 consistent with the chartered rights of the corporators and their debtors. 
 
 Under a deep sense of respectful obedience to the decision of the House 
 of Representatives thus solemnly expressed, and feeling that they had no 
 right to question its justice or propriety, your committee proceeded to Phila- 
 delphia on the 22d of April, to commence the performance of their duties. 
 
 On the 23d' of April, their chairman addi-cssed to the President of the 
 Bank a communication, enclosing a co])y of the resolution of the House 
 of Representatives, and notifying him of the readiness of the committee to 
 visit the Bank on the ensuing day at any hour agreeable to him. In reply, 
 the President informed the committee that tiie j)apers thus received should 
 be submitted to the Board of Directors at a special meeting to be called 
 for that puipose. It appears in the journal of the proceedings of the com- 
 mittee, hei-cwith presented to the House, that this was done, and that the 
 directors apj)oinfed a committee of seven of their Board to receive the 
 Committee of the House of Representatives, and to ofiTcr for their inspec- 
 tion such books and papers of the Bank as may be necessary to exhibit the
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 proceed ing3 of the corporation according to the requirement 
 ter. In the letter of John Sergeant, Esquire, as chairman of 
 tee of Directors, communicating the proceedings of tlie Board, nc sh^s mat 
 he was directed to inform the chairman of this committee that the Com- 
 mittee of the Directors " will immediately direct the necessary arrange- 
 ments to he made for the accommodation of the Committee of the House of 
 Representatives," and would attend at the Bank to receive them the next 
 day, at 1 1 o'clock. Your committee attended, and were received by the 
 Committee of Dii-ectors. (App. A.) 
 
 Up to this period, nothing ha<l occurred to justify the belief that a dis- 
 position was felt, on the part of the managers of the Bank, to embarrass 
 the proceedings of the committee, or have tliem conducted differently from 
 those of the two preceding committees of investigation. On assembling, 
 howevei", the next morning, at the Bank, tliey found tl»e room which had 
 been offered for their accommodation pre-occupied by the Committee of the 
 Board, witli the President of the Bank as an ex officio member, claiming 
 the right to be present at the investigations and examinations of this com- 
 mittee. This proceeding the committee were not prepared to expect. 
 When the appointment of the committee of seven was first made, it was 
 supposed that that measure, however designed, was not well calculated to 
 facilitate the examination. 
 
 The officers of the Bank were believed to be the most appropriate agents 
 <)f the Board of Directors to exhibit their books and papers. By them the 
 entries in the books are made, and by them such entries are most readily 
 explained. It is their duty, too, to be daily at the banking house, and on 
 that account they could assist in the examination more readily than the 
 Committee of Directors. 
 
 These objections to the special agents of the Board were felt and ex- 
 pressed, but they were waived, and no disposition had been manifested, op 
 ielt by your committee, to conduct the examination in any manner not en- 
 tirely acceptable to the Board. 
 
 Under these circumstances, your committee did think that a decent re- 
 spect for their rights and privileges, and much more for the dignity of that 
 body from which all their powers were derived, might have induced the 
 Committee of Directo^s to forbear to make thetn feel an entire want of 
 control over their own room. Witli a previous determination to be pre- 
 sent when their books were to be inspected, they could have waited to 
 avow it until these books were called for, and the attempt made to inspect 
 them in their absence. These circumstances are now reviewed, because 
 they then excited an apprehension, which the sequel formed into conviction, 
 that this Committee of Directors had been appointed to supervise the acts 
 and doings of your committee, and to limit and restrain their proceedings, 
 not according to the directions contained in the resolution of the House, 
 but the will and judgment of the Board of Directors. Your committee 
 have chosen to ascribe this claim of the Committee of Directors, to sit 
 conjointly with them, to the desire to prevent them from making use of the 
 books and papers, for some of the pui-poses pointed out by tlie resolution 
 of the House. They are sensible that this claim to be present at all 
 examinations, avowed pi-ematurely, and subsequently persisted in with 
 peculiar pertinacity, could be atti-ibutcd to very different motives ; but re- 
 spect for themselves, and respect for tlie gentlemen who composed the Com- 
 mittee of Directors, utterly forbids the asciiption to them of a feeling 
 \v hich would merit compassion and contempt much more than resentment.
 
 5 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 This vel position, voluntarily and deliberately taken by the Com- 
 ,ie Dii'cctois, predicated on an idea of equality of rights witlk 
 your committee, undei' your lesohition, retulcred it probable, and in some 
 measure necessary, that jour committee should express its opinions of the 
 relative lights of the corporation and the House of Representatives. Ta 
 avoid all misunderstar.ding and future misrepresentations, it was desirable 
 that each question should be decided separately. Contemplating an ex- 
 tended investigation, but unwilling that an apprehension should exist of 
 improper disclosures being made of the transactions of the Bank and ita 
 customei's, your committee, following theexampleof the committee of 1832, 
 adopted a resolution declaring that their proceedings should be confidential, 
 until otherwise ordered by the committee, and also a resolution that the 
 committee would conduct its investigations "without tlie presence of any 
 person not required or invited to attend." Copies of these resolutions were 
 furnished to the Committee of Directors, in the hope that the exclusive con- 
 trol of a room at the Bank, duiiiig its hours of business, would thereafter 
 be conceded to your committee, while the claim of the Committee of Di- 
 rectors to be present when tlieir books were submitted for inspection, should 
 be postponed for decision, when the books were called for and pi-oduced by 
 them. (App. A.) 
 
 On the 28th ultimo, this committee assembled at the banking house,, 
 and again found the room they expected to find set apart for their use, pre- 
 occupied by the Committee of Directors, and others, officers of the Bank. 
 And, iiistead of such assurances as they had a right to expect, they received 
 copies of two resolutions adopted by the Board of Dircctoi-s, in which 
 they were given to understand that their continued occupation of the room 
 must be ccisideied a fa\or, and not a matter of right ; and in wiiich the 
 Board indulge in unjust commentaiies on the resolution of the House of 
 Re|)resentatives, and intimate an apprehension that your committee de- 
 sign to make their examinations seciet, partial, unjust, oppressive, and 
 contraiy to common right. (App. A.) 
 
 "When this communication had been read, your committee adjourned to 
 meet at their own chamber, at the North American hotel. Notwithstand- 
 ing all that had occurred, the correspotidence with tlie Committee of Di- 
 rectors was continued. If, in so doing, an error was committed, let it be 
 imputed to the belief that great forbearance well became the committee 
 of the immediate I'epresentutives of the people. (App. A.) 
 
 While it was thus doubtful whether a room coul<l be obtained in the 
 banking house, without conditions being attached derogatory to the rights 
 and dignity of the House, and a concession in advance of a claim set up 
 by the Bank, 'which might scr-iously incommode your committee in their 
 business, they determined to execute your i-esolution, if practicable, with- 
 out intruding on the directors of the Bank ; they, therefore, required of 
 the President and Directors, in writing, to submit for the insjiection of the 
 committee, at their committee room, on the 3d day of May, certain books 
 and paper-s of the Bank, which might have been thus pr-oduced without 
 interrujjtion to the ordiiiar-y l)usiness of the Bank. The r-equisition, in 
 terms, implied the presence of the director's or- their- committee. 
 
 Orr the day named, the Board addr-esscd a wr-itten communication to the 
 committee, declaring "that they cannot comply with that part of the re- 
 solution of the Committee of Investigation which requires that certain
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 7 
 
 books of the Bank be sent to the North American hotel this day, at 
 11 o'clock.'* (A pp. B.) 
 
 Your committee are of oinnioii that this refusal of the Board of Direc- 
 tors to submit the books of the Bank to the inspection of your committee, 
 is a violation of the Bank charter, and a contempt of the laws and autliority 
 of the House of Representatives. 
 
 The reasons for this opinion neeil not be here repeated or enlarged. 
 
 It has been maintained, and is insisted, tliat the right to inspect the 
 books of the Bank, carries with it the power to j)crform that uffice out of 
 the banking house, if it cannot be done conveniently and effectually there- 
 in, and your committee cannot perceive that just ground of complaint ex- 
 ists against a claim of power, in a committee of either House of Congress, 
 which, by the laws, and with a wise regard to tlie public interest, is con- 
 ceded to the judicial tribunals of both the Federal and State Governments. 
 
 The facts already stated der^onstrate that a room could not be procured 
 in the Bank for tlie useof the committee, without a concession not to be re- 
 called, which would have made your committee dependent on the courtesy 
 of the directors of the Bank at every step of their inquiry ; and the vari- 
 ous communications leccived from the directors and thtir committee, an- 
 nexed to tiiis report, will fully corroborate tliis statement. 
 
 Having failed to accomplish the object of procuring the booksof the Bank 
 for inspection at their committee room, your committee felt it to be theip 
 duty to demand their submission for that purpose, at the Bank, of the Pre- 
 sident and Cashier of the Bank, the usual and general agents of the corjK)- 
 ration. For that purpose, on the 5th day of May, having apprised the 
 Committee of Directors of their intention, at one o'clock they repaired to the 
 Bank, and there required the President and Cashier, each of them respec- 
 tively, to produce certain of the books of the Bank, for inspection of the 
 committee. This was refused by eacii of those oflicers, for reasons stated 
 in writing, and to be found in the appendix to this report. (App. C.) 
 
 In this refusal, your committee believe tiierc was a substantial violation 
 of the Bank charter, and a contempt against the authority of the House 
 committed. 
 
 They are of opinion that your committee were under no obligation of 
 right to recognise any agent of the Bank other than those generally known 
 as such, and make their duty and right to inspect the books depend on the 
 convenience or capiice of such deputation. 
 
 If such be the fact, then the examinations of the Bank will, in all cases, 
 depend on the disposition of the directors to have their proceedings ex- 
 amined. 
 
 Having been thus denied by the officers of the Bank, and having been in- 
 formed by the directors that they were not aware of having declined to 
 furnish a room for tlie exclusive use of the committee, your committee, sin- 
 cerely desirous to meet the wishes and directions of the House, believed it 
 to be their duty to seek another interview with the Committee of Directors, 
 and by arrangement met the Committee of the Board at the Bank, on the 
 7th day of May, at an hour fixed by themselves. 
 
 Your committee then arul there, in writing, required the Committee of 
 the Board to produce to your committee, for inspection, certain books and 
 papers of the Bank, to enable your committee to inquire into the ti'uth of 
 representations made by the Government directors to the President of the 
 United States and to Congress, and to ascertain whether the Board of
 
 8 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 Directors had violated the charter of tlie Bank, by authorizing the exer- 
 cise of illegal powers by their committees or officers, and whether the 
 Bank had any agency, through its management or money, in producing 
 the present pressure, or has used its corporate ])ower or money to control 
 the press, to inlerfeie in politics, or influence elections. 
 
 Without giving a specitic answer to these calls for books and pa- 
 pers, the Committee of Directors presented a written communication, which 
 was said to be *' indicative of the mode of proceeding deemed right by the 
 Bank." 
 
 The Committee of the Board, in that communication, express the opi- 
 nion, that the inquii-y can only be rightfully extended to alleged violations 
 of the charter, and deny, virtually, the right of the House of Representa- 
 tives to authorize the inquiries required in the resolution. 
 
 They also required of the Committee of Investigation, " when they ask- 
 ed for books and jjapers, to state specifically, in writing, the purposes for 
 which they arc pioposed to be inspected ; an<i if it be to establish a viola- 
 tion of the charter, tiicn to state specifically, in writing, what are the al- 
 leged or supposed violations of charter to which the evidence is alleged 
 to be applicable." 
 
 To thi •> extraordinary requirement, made on the supposition that your 
 committee were charged with the duty of crimination, or prosecution for 
 criminal offence, and implying a right on the part of the directors to de- 
 termine for what purposes the inspection should be made, and what books 
 or papers should be submitted to inspection, your committee replied that 
 they were not charged with the duty of criminating the Bank, its direc- 
 tors, or others, but simply to inquire, amongst other tilings, whether any 
 prosecution, in legal form, should be instituted, and from the nature of 
 their duties, and the instructions of the House of Representatives, they were 
 not bound to state specifically, in writing, any charges against the Bank, 
 or any special purpose for which they required the production of the books 
 and papers for inspection. 
 
 A specific answer was requested to tiie calls which had been made. 
 
 The Committee of the Board, after delibei-ation, made a communication 
 to your committee, in writing, in which they announced their purpose to 
 adhere to their resolution, and refused to submit the books and pajjcrs of 
 the Bank required by your committee to be ])roduccd for their inspection. 
 
 These calls weie made in the Bank, and in the presence of the Com- 
 mittee of the Board, and then and there a compliance with them was re- 
 fused. Not feeling authorized to regard tiiis unexpected and unequivocal 
 refusal as the act of the B(n\r(l of Directors, your committee submitted the 
 proceedings of their committee to the Board, and they were, by the Board, 
 '♦fully apjjroved and sanctioned." (Ai)p. D.) 
 
 In this act of refusal, which nothing tiiat had occurred had prepared 
 them to anticij)ate, your committee are of o|)inioa that the charter of the 
 Bank was violated, and a contempt of the authority of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives committed. 
 
 • Your committee, acting under the instructions of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, without power to modify or enlarge them, charged to inquire, 
 and not authorized to accuse or to arraign, excejjt in their report to the 
 House itself; armed with but the limited authority of a committee, unau- 
 thorized to ])unish, were necessarily comjielled to the conclusion, that, in 
 the face of the obstructions already detailed, they could not efticiently pro-
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 9 
 
 secute the inquiries with which they were charged, without the aid of the 
 power of the House of Kepresentatives. 
 
 Anxious, however, to perform their duty without complaint to the House, 
 and in conformity with tiie proceedings of the Committees of Investigation 
 of 1819 and 1832, your committee called on the Bank, in a series of resolu- 
 tions, to furnisii statements, and certain extracts and copies from their 
 books and papers, which, in the opinion of your committee, were all inti- 
 mately connected with Iheir duties, and many of them indispensable to 
 afford to the House of Representatives the information which they had di- 
 rected your committee to obtain. 
 
 The first of these was responded to by tlie Committee of Directors, and 
 the information furnished. Though useful, it was comparatively unim- 
 portant. 
 
 The Board of Directors, after deliberation, refused to comply with the 
 other calls, for reasons which will be found in their resolution in the ap- 
 pendix, and which reasons deserve examination, as manifesting the delibe- 
 rate purpose of tiie directors to resist all attempts to examine into the pro- 
 ceedings of the corporation in the latitude required by your resolution. 
 
 They say that the Board of Directors do not feel themselves at liberty to 
 comply with the requirement of the Committee of Investigation, because 
 *'part" of the copies called for " relate to matters over which the Board 
 have no control." (App. E.) 
 
 This reason, it is plain, cannot have had much weight in producing the 
 decision of tlie Board. If only a part of the information desired was be- 
 yond the control of the Board, that fact could have been stated, and this 
 committee would have cheerfully received the residue. 
 
 2d. The Board say they cannot comply, because it would be impossible 
 for them to do so *' within any reasonable time, having ascertained, by a 
 careful examination, tijat the copies and statements called for by the reso- 
 lutions of the 29th ultimo alone would require the uninterrupted labor of 
 two clerks for at least ten months." 
 
 This reason, it is also fair to presume, could not have materially influ- 
 enced the decision of the Board. If, in truth, an entire compliance with 
 all the resolutions would require great labor, still that did not justify the 
 refusal to comply with any one of them. Besides, the whole objection 
 could have been obviated by the employment of more clerks than two, the 
 compensation to whom, if paid either by tiie Bank or this committee, 
 would have been well expended in gratifying the requirements of the House 
 of Representatives. 
 
 3d. The Board say they cannot <' comply, inasmuch as, in respect to a 
 part of the papers called for, the effect would be the same as the surrender 
 of their books and papers to a secret and ex parte examination." 
 
 Who can read this last reason for refusing, given by tlie directors, and 
 fail to perceive that this committee is justified in declaring that, without 
 the aid of compulsory process, they cannot obey the directions of the House ? 
 If extracts from their own books, made by their own clerks, will not be 
 furnished, because they might be used to conduct an ex parte examination, 
 what benefit could this committee expect to derive by access to the books 
 themselves ? 
 
 Permission to take extracts for themselves could, atid probably would, 
 be denied, for the same reasons; and a committee of the House, without 
 power to compel obedience to its demands, would have power to make no 
 2
 
 10 [ Rep. No. 4S1. J 
 
 use of the books wliich was not approved by the directors themselves^ 
 And the House will be at no loss to determine what latitude they would be 
 willing to give their iiiquii-ies. And without authentic extracts, such as 
 were unhesitatingly furnished by the Bank to both the former committees 
 of investigation, your committee could very imperfectly convey to the 
 House the grounds of their conclusions, or the results of their inspections 
 and examinations. 
 
 In wiiat condition, then, is your committee pPaced ? The House have 
 commanded them to inquire '• what corruptions and abuses have existed 
 in the management of the Bank," '< whether it has used its corporate 
 power, or money, to inteifere in politics, or influence elections." 
 
 To do this, they have attempted to use the only means that can, by pos- 
 sibility, enable tliem to fulfil this duty ; and tliey are refused by the direc- 
 tors access to those means which are in their custody, and which, by their 
 charter, they are bound to furnish ; because, say they, the inquiry this 
 committee have been charged to make, " can only be rightfully extended to 
 alleged violations of tiie charter." And even these violations of charter 
 are not to be iiuiuircd of until the Board is furnislicd with ** a specifi- 
 cation of all the cliarges intended to be inquired into." Should supposed 
 violations of chaiter be specifically charged, then the directors are to de- 
 cide whetiier the facts, if true as stated, would amount to technical violations 
 of charter, and then, and not till thc'i, will your committee be permitted 
 to "proceed with them in order, as stated." It must be said that these 
 pretences, by which the Bank would justify its bold disregard of the pro- 
 visions of its chai ter, are, in themselves, derogatory to the dignity, and 
 contemptuous to the authority of the House, to which it, in part, owes its 
 being. 
 
 The committee believe that these proceedings of the Bank directors, 
 denying vital and essential powers to the two Houses of Congress, and as- 
 serting, in effect, a paramount and controlling authoiity over both in exe- 
 cuting a power devised as a check upon the Bank itself, would justify a 
 more extended comment. But confiding in the disposition of the House to 
 maintain its own rights and dignity, and to sustain your committee in the 
 faithful discharge of their duty, they present, as a part of this report, the 
 various resolutions adopted by your committee, with those received from 
 the agents of the Bank, as an appendix, declaratory of the powers believed 
 to be possessed, and tlie purposes of your committee. 
 
 They believe that these resolutions will of themselves vindicate their con- 
 duct and proceedings from all tliose imputations which are to be found in 
 the vai-ious communications of the dii-ectors, and their committee, and will 
 serve to show that they have afforded no justification whatever for the ex- 
 traordinary position ultimately taken by the Committee of Directors and 
 the Board ; but that thcii- determination not to permit any conduct of 
 theirs, not involving breach of charter, to be investigated, must have been 
 entertained long before it was made known to your committee, and that it 
 was not communicated until every other means of preventing the examination 
 had proved unavailing. But for this conduct, which your committee cannot 
 regard as distinguished by frankness and candor, the absence of your com- 
 mittee from their duties in the House would have been of much shorter 
 continuance. 
 
 Believing they had now exhausted, in their efforts to execute the duty de- 
 volved upon them, all reasonable means depending solely upon the provi-
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 11 
 
 sions of the Bank charter, to obtain the inspection of the books of this cor- 
 poration, your committee were at last reluctantly compelled to resort to the 
 subpoenas which had been furnished to them under the seal of tliis House, 
 and attested by its Clerk. They, thereby, on the 9th instant, directed the 
 marshal of the eastern district of Pennsylvania to summon Nicholas 
 Biddle, President, and thirteen other persons, directors of the Bank, to at- 
 tend at their committee room, on the next day, at 12 o'clock at noon, to 
 testify concerning the matters of which your committee were authorized to 
 inquire, and to bring with them certain books therein named for inspection. 
 The marshal served the summons in due foim of law, and at the time ap- 
 pointed the persons therein named appeared before the committee, and pre- 
 sented a written communication signed by each f>f them, as the answer of 
 each to the requirements of the subpoena. (Appendix F.) In tins pa- 
 per they declare «' that they do not produce the books required, be- 
 cause they are not in the custody of either of us, but, as has been 
 hdjcetofore stated, of tlie Board," and add, *' considering that, as cor- 
 porators and as directors, we are parties to the proceeding, we do not con- 
 sider ourselves bound to testify, and therefore respectfully decline to do so.*' 
 
 Your committee will not dwell long to answer these teclinical excuses 
 for this contempt of the lawful mandate of the House. Tiiey are to be 
 found at large in the w ritten document above referred to. Most of them, 
 it is believed, liave been already satisfactorily answered. The two novel 
 excuses herein set forth cannot but be condemned as insufficient. The 
 first is founded on a very refined distinction between the power of the 
 directors as persons and as corporators. The same persons have and 
 have not power to submit the books. As corporators, the custody of the 
 books is in them ; but as individuals, although collectively assembled, the 
 same books are not under their control. Thus, by an attenuated techni- 
 cality, the lawful authority of the House is to be defied. If, in one room 
 of the Bank, they must be esteemed as " individual citizens," \Nho may law- 
 fully disregard the subpoena duces tecumf because they have not the book 
 demanded ; if, in anotlier room of the same house, by a transmigration 
 not known to heatiien pliilosopliy, their identity is gone ; they have be- 
 come mere ideal creatures, on which not even a subpoena ad testificandum 
 can be served. To make this excuse still more extraordinary, let it be re- 
 membered that seven of the gentlemen by whom it is offered liad been ap- 
 pointed by the Board of Directors to exhibit the books of the Bank for 
 inspection, and of course must have had the right to their exclusive posses- 
 sion for that purpose. 
 
 The reason assigned for the refusal to be sworn is parallel with that which 
 hasjust been considered. They claim, that, as corporators and directors, 
 they are parties to the proceedings of the House, and therefore not bound to 
 give testimony. It is a humane rule to be found in the criminal law, which 
 declares that no man shall be compelled to criminate himself, and one 
 which this committee would be unwilling, under any circumstances, to deny. 
 But your committee are not aware of any principle of evidence which will 
 excuse a person for refusing to give testimony, simply because it may sub- 
 ject him to a civil action. 
 
 There are provisions in the Bank charter making the directors liable 
 to a civil suit if proved to have participated in certain transactions therein 
 mentioned. But it ought not to be supposed tluit any thing can be found 
 on the books of the Bank that would subject the directors to a criminal
 
 12 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 prosecution. Even if tlie latter supposition be not entirely without foun- 
 dation, still it is insisted that a witness called on to testify, must do so, 
 unless the court, or other tribunal, before which he appears, shall adjudge 
 that lie is interested. Tliat question the witness cannot be permitted to 
 decide for iiimsclf, otherwise evidence might be withheld without good 
 cause. As to the supposition that the directors, or the corporation under 
 their control, are to be considered parties to tlie inquest this committee 
 was directed to institute, it has already been answered in this report, and 
 needs no further reply. If tlie inquest had been prosecuted, and had satis- 
 fied Congress or tlie I'residerit that a scire facias ought to issue, then, and 
 not till then, could the Bank directors become parties to the proceedings, 
 and, under that priticiple, attempt to conceal transactions kHown only to 
 themselves; and even then their books might be used as evidence against 
 them. Justice requires us to add, that the directors, while they protested 
 against our riglit to examine them, declared they had no knowledge, which, 
 if a necessary regard to their duties, and the i-ights of others, perml/fied, 
 they would not willingly expose without reserve. 
 
 Under such circumstances, it is to be regretted tliat they have not imitat- 
 ed the course of tlie directors of 1819 and 18S2, by waiving their supposed 
 technical rights, and inviting an inirestrained examination of their pro- 
 ceedings. Such conduct could not but have gained public approbation ; 
 and, it is hunibly conceived, could not have been reasonably objecte<l to by 
 any persons having business with the institution. If such had been the 
 course of the directors, the committee hope to be pardoned for saying it 
 was their purpose to have endeavored to have performed the duties which 
 had been enjoined, thoroughly, impartially, and with a rigid adherence 
 to the immutable principles of truth and justice. 
 
 Thus, your committee conclude, the just power and authority of the 
 House of Representatives have been set at naught, defied, and contemned. 
 
 Thus the charter of the Bank of the United States has been deliberately 
 violated, by repeated refusals of the directors of that corporation to sub- 
 mit their books and papers to the inspection of this committee. 
 
 Thus have the just expectations of the House, and of their constituents, 
 been disa])pointe(l, and all means of obtaining the best and most accurate 
 information concerning the operations of a controlling moneyed institution, 
 been cut off and denied. 
 
 It remains for the House and the country to decide how far this con- 
 duct of that directory has been dictated by their solemn duty, as declar- 
 ed, to protect the interests of others committed specially to their protec- 
 tion ; how far it conforms to those principles of action which are based 
 on conscious integrity and uprightness of purpose, which defies scrutiny, 
 and invites investigation ; and how far it shall be received as a plea of 
 guilty to the high misdemeanors which they insist have been charged 
 against the corporation of which they have the management and control. 
 
 These grave questions, with others growing out of the transactions and 
 proceedings, are left to be decided by the House of Representatives. 
 
 To elicit those opinions, the following resolutions are most respectfully 
 submitted : 
 
 1. Resolved^ That, by the charter of the Bank of the United States, 
 the right was expressly reserved to either House of Congress, by the ap- 
 pointment of a committee, to inspect the books, and to examine into the
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 13 
 
 proceedings of the said Bank, as well as to ascertain if at any time it had 
 violated its charter. 
 
 2. Resolved^ That the resolution of the House of Representatives, 
 passed on the 4th of April, 1834, for the appointment of a committee, 
 with full powers to make the investigations embraced in said resolution, 
 was in accordance with the provisions of the charter of said Bank and 
 the power of this House. 
 
 3. Resolved^ That the President and Board of Directors of the Bank 
 of the United States, by refusing to submit for inspection the books and 
 papers of the Bank, as called for by the Committee of the House of Rep- 
 resentatives, have contemned the legitimate authority of the House, as- 
 serting for themselves powers and privileges not contemplated by the 
 framers of their charter, nor in fairness deducible from any of the terms 
 or provisions of that instrument. 
 
 4. Resolved^ That either House of Congress has the right to compel 
 the production of any such books or papers as have been called for by 
 their committee, and also to compel said President and Directors to tes- 
 tify to such interrogatories as were necessary to a full and perfect under- 
 starding of the proceedings of the Bank at any period within the term 
 of its existence. 
 
 5. Resolved^ That the Speaker of this House do issue his warrant to 
 the Sergeant-at-Arms, to arrest Nicholas Biddle, President, Manuel 
 Eyre, Lawrence Lewis, Ambrose White, Daniel W. Coxe, John Holmes, 
 Charles Chauncey, John Goddard, John R. Neff, William Piatt, Matthew 
 Newkirk, James C. Fisher, John S. Henry, and John Sergeant, Direc- 
 tors of the Bank of the United States, and bring them to the bar of this 
 House, to answer for theii* contempt of its lawful authority.
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 15 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Philadelphia, 
 North American Hotels April 23, 1844. 
 
 The committee met. Present all the members. On motion, 
 Resolved, That the chairman address a letter, in behalf of the commit- 
 tee, to the President of the Bank, enclosing a copy of the resolution of the 
 House of Representatives under which the committee are appointed, inform- 
 ing him that they are now organized, and I'eady to proceed to business at 
 such time to-morrow as will be convenient to him. 
 
 North American Hotel, April 23, 1834. 
 
 Sir : I have been directed by the committee appointed to investigate 
 the affairs of the Bank of the United States to enclose to you the accom- 
 panying copy of a resolution of the House of Representatives of the Unit- 
 ed States, and to inform you that the committee will be prepared to visit 
 the Bank of the United States to-morrow at any hour that will be agree- 
 able to you to receive them, to commence the discharge of the duties as- 
 signed them. 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, 
 Chairman of the Investigating Committee. 
 Nicholas Biddle, Esq. 
 
 President of the U. 8. Bank. 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 Jpril 23, 1834. 
 Sir : I have had the honor of receiving your letter of this day's date, 
 with a copy of the resolution of the House of Repiesentativcs of the United 
 States, passed on the 4th instant. 
 
 I shall forthwith call a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the 
 Bank at 9 o'clock to-morrow morning, when these papers shall be submit- 
 ted to them; after which, a communication on the subject will be made to 
 you. In the mean tims, 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Very respectfully, vours, 
 
 N. BIDDLE, President. 
 Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Com, of Investigation, Philadelphia.
 
 16 L Rep. No. 48L J 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 Jpril 24, 1834. 
 
 Sir : I am directed by the Committee of the Directors of the Bank of the 
 United States to send you the enclosed copy of a resoKjtion, adopted this 
 morning by the Board at a special meeting convened in consequence of 
 your communication of yesterday to the President, and to inform you that 
 the committee will immediately direct the necessary arrangements to be 
 made for the accommodation of the Committee of the House of Representa- 
 tives of the United States, and will attend at the Bank to receive them at 
 31 o'clock to-morrow morning. * 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 To the Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigatioiu 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 Jlpril 24, 1834. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Board of Directors, held this day, the Presi- 
 dent submitted the letter of the honorable Francis Thomas, chairman of 
 the Committee of Investigation, dated *' Philadelj)hia, North American 
 Hotel, April 23, 1834," enclosing an official copy of a resolution adopted 
 by the tlouse of Rej)resentatives of the United States on the 4th of April, 
 1834, together with his reply to said letter. 
 
 "Wiiereupon, it was, on motion. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of seven members of the Board be appointed 
 to receive the Committee of the House of Representatives of the United 
 States, and to offer for their inspection such books and papers of the Bank, 
 as may be necessary to exhibit the proceedings of the corporation accord- 
 ing to the requirement of the charter. 
 
 The following directors were then aj)pointed to compose the said com- 
 mittee : 
 
 Messrs. Sergeant, Chauncey, Coxe, Neff, Eyre, Lewis, Henry. 
 
 Extract from the minutes : 
 
 S. JAUDON, Cashier. 
 
 Bank op the United States, 
 
 April 26, 1834. 
 
 The following resolutions were adopted, and forwarded in the succeed- 
 ing letters to the Committee of Directors: 
 
 Resolved, That the proceedings, investigations, and examinations of 
 this committee, of the books, papers, and affairs of the Bank, shall be 
 confidential, unless other^vise ordered by the committee. 
 
 Resolved, That the investigations of this committee into the afTairs, 
 management, and concerns of the Bank of the United States, shall be 
 conducted without the presence of any person who is not required or in- 
 vited to attend the examinations of this committee.
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J IT 
 
 Bank of tub United States, 
 
 *ipriL 26, 1834. 
 
 Sir : In compliance with the direction of the Comnfiittee of Investiga-- 
 tion, I have the honor to enclose to you the accompanying resoiutiotis. 
 
 1 am, \ci-y respectfully, 
 Your obe(lient seivant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, Chairman^ 
 John Sergeant, Esq. 
 
 Chairman of the Committee oj Directors of Bank U. 8» 
 
 [Reply to the foregoing.] 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 Jpril 26, 1834. 
 
 Sir : I have received and laid before tiie Committee of the Directors of 
 the Bank of tiie United States your note of this date, and the enclosed co- 
 py of the lesolutions of the Committee of the House of Representatives of 
 the United States. 
 
 I am directed by the committee to inform you tliat your communication 
 will be laid before the Boaid, at a special meeting to be convened for the 
 purpose, and that we will be piepared to make known to you the decision 
 of the Board at your next meeting on Monday at 1 1 o'clock. 
 
 1 have the honor to be. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman^ 
 To the Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of the House of Reps. U. S. 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 April 28, 1834. 
 
 Sir : In conformity to my communication of the 26th instant, your 
 note of that date, and the resolutions enclosed in it, have been laid before 
 the Board of Directors of the Bank of the United States, at a special 
 meeting convened for the purpose. I have now the honor to enclose to 
 you a copy of the resolutions adopted by the Board, and to be, 
 With great respect. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairmaiu 
 To the Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of the House of Reps. U. S. 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 April 28, 1834. 
 At a special meeting of the Board of Directors, held this day, the fol- 
 lowing resolutions were, on motion, unanimously adopted : 
 
 1. Resolved^ That the Board recognise the right of the Committee of 
 
 the House of Representatives of the United States " to inspect the books 
 
 and to examine into the proceedinui-s of ths Bank of the United States," 
 
 aceordmg to the provisions of tiie chvrter; and to enable the committee 
 
 to exercise this right, according to the order of the House of Represen- 
 
 3
 
 18 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 tatives, the Board have endeavored to do all that could manifest their re- 
 spect for the committee, or contribute to the convenient peiformance of 
 its duty, by offering a room in the banking house for their accommodation, 
 and appointing a Committee of Directors to exhibit the books and papers 
 according to the requirement of the charter. But the Board cannot, con- 
 sistently with their sense of duty to the Bank, and of the obligations of 
 the trust committed to them, consent to give up the custody and posses- 
 sion of the books and papers of the Bank, nor to permit them to be ex- 
 amined but in the presence of the committee appointed by the Board. 
 
 2. Resolved^ That, considering the nature of the proceedings which 
 resulted in the resolution for the appointment of the Committee of the 
 House of Representatives of the United States to examine the liank of 
 the United States, and considering the very grave and accusatory nature 
 of the inquiries diiected to be made by that resolution, as well in their 
 bearing upon the Bank as upon the individual citizens entrusted with its 
 administration, the Board cannot but deem it to be due to the demands of 
 common justice, that the institution and the individuals should have the 
 opportunity to be present by their representatives appointed for that pur- 
 pose, at all examinations to be made by the committee touching their 
 character and conduct, whether the same be of books and papers, or of 
 witnesses. It is most manifest to the Board that, for the purpose of ar- 
 riving at the truth, examination in the presence of the parties would be 
 the natural and effectual mode of proceeding ; and the Board, being con- 
 fident that examinations so conducted would result in a manner creditable 
 to the Bank, have promptly and cheerfully acceded to the amplest in- 
 vestigation. But, if they are to understand the resolutions of the Com- 
 mittee of the House of Representatives of the United States, of the 26th 
 instant, as announcing an intention to pursue a different course, they do 
 solemnly protest against the same ; being fully satisfied that secret and 
 partial examinations are unjust, oppressive, and contrary to common right, 
 and never to be resorted to but in cases of necessity ; of which the pre- 
 sent cannot, in the opinion of the Board, be said to be one. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the committee, appointed on the 24th instant, be 
 instructed to furnish a certified copy of the foregoing resolutions to the 
 Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States. 
 
 Extract from the minutes : 
 
 S. JAUDON, Cashier. 
 
 Committee Room, April 29, 1834. 
 
 Sir : I have the honor to enclose to you the accompanying copies of 
 resolutions which have been adopted to day by the Committee of Inves- 
 tigation, in reply to your communication of the 28th instant. 
 With great respect, I am 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, Chairman. 
 To John Sergeant, Esq. 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Directors. 
 
 1 . Resolved, That this committee duly appreciate the disposition mani- 
 fested by the directors of the Bank of the United States in offering ac- 
 commodations in their banking house, for its use, as contained in the
 
 f Rep. No. 481. J 19 
 
 communication of the Committee of the Board of Directors of the 24th 
 instant ; that this committee accepted that offer, under the belief that it 
 would promote as well its convenience as that of the officers of the Bank, 
 and that the room thus offered would be exclusively for its occupation, 
 and that of those whose attendance might be, by the committee, required 
 or assented to. And that the committee is willing still so to consider it. 
 
 2. Resolved, That this committee, charged with important duties, and 
 acting under its responsibility to the House of Representatives and the 
 laws of the United States, claims the right, to be exercised at its discre- 
 tion, to compel the production of the books and papers of the Bank for 
 inspection, and to inspect the same in such mode as to the committee 
 may seem best calculated to promote the object of its inquiry. But this 
 committee has not determined that it will become necessary to perform 
 that duty out of the presence of those charged by the directors to submit 
 the same to the inspection of the committee. 
 
 3. Resolved, That this committee cannot recognise the right of the 
 " Board of Directors" to regard the resolution of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives as accusatory in its character, or this committee as charged with 
 the duty of criminating the Bank or its officers. That, in the resolutions 
 of the 26th instant, the committee intended to assert its right to control 
 its own proceedings, and not to indicate a purpose of making a secret and 
 partial examination, or of practising injustice or oppression ; that the 
 committee cannot but regard the expression of such an apprehension by 
 the Board of Directors, as unjust to its members, and unauthorized by 
 the resolutions. 
 
 4. Resolved, That this committee, actuated by a sense of justice, will 
 unhesitatingly afford to every person whose character or conduct may 
 seem to be affected in the progress of their investigations, a full oppor^ 
 tunity of explanation and defence, but claim the right of determining the 
 time and mode of giving such privilege, and therefore cannot recognise 
 the right of the directors to prescribe the course to be pursued by this 
 ■committee in making its examinations. 
 
 5. Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be communicat- 
 ed by the chairman to the Committee of the Directors of the Bank. 
 
 [Reply to the foregoing.] 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 ^pril 29, 1834. 
 
 Sir : I have the honoi' to acknowledge your note of this date, and the 
 copy, enclosed in it, of the resolutions adopted by the Committee of the 
 House of Representatives of the United States. Tliey have been laid be- 
 fore tlie Committee of the Board of Directors, and 1 am directed by them 
 to make the following reply : 
 
 Tlie committee would, in the first place, respectfully state that it was 
 not their intention, nor the intention of the Board, to allege tliat the Com- 
 mltlee of Investigation was charged witli the duty of criminating the Bank, 
 or its officers. They meant only to say, as will be seen by reference to 
 the resolution, that tlic inquiries directed to be made were in their nature 
 accusatory, and so the Committee of the Board are still obliged to con- 
 sider tiiem.
 
 20 [ Rep. No. 48l. ] 
 
 The committee would further respectfully state that it was not the interi' 
 tion of the Board to impute to the Committee of Investigation '<a purpose 
 of making a secret and partial examination, or of practising injustice or 
 oppression." They simply intended to assert, what they helieve to he be- 
 yond all dispute or doubt, that secret and partial examinations into mat- 
 ters which have a bearing upon the character and conduct of individuals,, 
 are unavoidably unjust and oppressive. 
 
 And, finally, the committee would most respectfully disclaim all inten- 
 tion to control, in any manner, the proceedings of the Committee of Inves- 
 tigation, or to prescribe to it any course whatever. The Board are very 
 sensible they have neither the power nor the right to do so. The only pur- 
 pose of the Board was to exhibit respectfully to the Committee of Investi- 
 gation their views of their own rights upon the two points presented by the 
 resolutions of tlie Committee of Investigation of the £6th instant, from 
 which views they liave seen no reason to depart. 
 
 The committee are very happy to perceive that as yet there is no prac- 
 tical difference between the views of the Board and those entertained by 
 the Committee of Investigation as to the mode of proceeding to be adopted, 
 inasmuch as the resolutions you have done me the iionor to send to me, in- 
 form us that the Committee of Investigation have not come to any decision, 
 and we therefore may indulge a hope that, seeing the reasonableness and 
 justice of the views respectfully suggested by the Board, the Committee of 
 Investigation, when they come to decide, will not differ from the Board in 
 opinion. 
 
 I am directed, in conclusion, respectfully to request, that when the Com- 
 mittee of Investigation shall have decided upon the mode of proceeding 
 they will adopt, they will be good enough to communicate their decision, 
 that the Board may be able to take such measures as it may seem to re- 
 quire. In the mean time I beg you to be assured of the continued disposi- 
 tion of the Board and the committee to contribute all that may be in their 
 power to promote the accommodation and convenience of the Committee of 
 Investigation, as well as of the great respect of, sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 To the Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of the House of Reps. V. 8. 
 
 [Reply to the foregoing.] 
 
 Committee Room, North American Hotel, 
 
 April 30, 1834. 
 
 Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 
 fi9th instant, and, having submitted it to the consideration of the Committee 
 of Investigation, have been authorized to present to you the following 
 
 reply : 
 
 The committee regret to find that the character of the resolutions here- 
 tofore adopted by them, and of which copies have been forwarded to you, 
 is much misunderstood. In your letter of the 29th, it is said "that the 
 Committee of Investigation have not come to any decision" as to the 
 mode of proceeding to be adopted. The propriety or justice of such an 
 allegation is not perceived. The committee have decided, and made 
 known to you that decision, that they have the po\\cr to compel the pro- 
 duction of the books and papers of the Bank for inspection ; that they have 
 the power to make such inspection in the presence of those only who may
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 21 
 
 be, by the committee, required or invited to attend ; and to exclude from 
 their room all persons whatever who, by their presence, may in any de- 
 gree tend to impede the progress of the inspection of the books and papers, 
 or incommode the members of the committee in the discharge of the high 
 duties devolved on them by the House of Representatives. The committee 
 reserve the right to exercise that power when it shall become necessary, 
 and in the manner wMiich their sense of propriety, and desire to do justice 
 to the Bank, and to the country, may dictate. They hope that nothing 
 will occur, in the course of this scrutiny, which may render it proper for 
 them to decide upon and exercise the full extent of the powers conferred 
 on them by the House, and are happy to learn that there is no practical 
 difference between the views of the Board and those entertained by the 
 committee. They will be glad to know whether they are authorized to 
 conclude that the room which has been offered for their accommodation at 
 the banking house, can be set apart for their exclusive use and occupation, 
 from 10 o'clock A. M. until 3 P. M., during the continuance of the commit- 
 tee in Philadelphia. The committee assure the Committee of Directors 
 that it is their desire to conduct this investigation at a place mutually 
 convenient to them and the officers of the Bank, and in a manner calcu- 
 lated to work no *< injustice or oppression." 
 
 An answer, consistent with your earliest convenience, to so much of this 
 communication as relates to the occupation of the room in the banking 
 house, is respectfully requested. 
 
 1 have the honor to be, with great respect. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, Chairman, 
 
 To John Sergeant, Esq. Chairman of the Committee of Directors, 
 
 [Reply to the foregoing. ] 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 May 1, 1834. 
 
 Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of the 30th of April. 
 It has been laid before the Committee of the Board, and by their direction 
 I make the following reply : 
 
 In saying that, according to the tenor of the resolutions of the Com- 
 mittee of Investigation of the 29th ultimo, there was «'as yet no practical 
 difference" between that committee and the Board, the Committee of the 
 Board still think the language they used was correct and appropriate. It 
 is true, that in these resolutions the Committee of Investigation had as- 
 serted a power wliich might, perhaps, iiavebeen controverted. But it was 
 not the intention of theCommittee of the Board to discuss or question the pow- 
 ers of the Committee of Investigation, in the abstract, or as matter of opinion, 
 but simply to set forth their own views of what they believed to be i\\e rights 
 of the Bank, and of the individual citizens entrusted with its administration. 
 
 The " practical difference," according to the view of the Committee of 
 the Board, would only occur when there should be an actual, as distin- 
 guished from a theoretical collision, that is to say, when an exertion of 
 power attempted by the Committee of Investigation should be met by an 
 assertion of right on the part of the Board incompatible with its prosecu- 
 tion. Such a state of things would be extremely to be regretted. It must, 
 jicvertheless, be conceded, that a case might be presented in which the 
 Committee of the Board would be compelled, by a deep sense of duty, to 
 consider their rights, and to act upon their own views of them.
 
 22 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 Among the risks incident to an error of judgment in deciding, they would 
 esteem it one of the greatest, that their conduct might hy possibility be im- 
 puted, however unjustly, to a want of (kie respect Tor the Committee of In- 
 vestigation, or for the high source from which tlieir authority is derived. 
 
 Under the influence of liiese feelings, and with a stmng desire that the 
 investigation might be conducted in a manner satisfactory to both the par- 
 ties, the Committee of the Board gladly embraced the belief (it may be 
 that their strong inclination led them too hastily to believe) that there was 
 «* as yet no practical difterence." If in this they misunderstood the terms 
 oftlie resolutions of the Committee of Investigation, they will be ready to 
 receive the explanation of the committee, in this or any other matter, to 
 correct the misunderstanding. 
 
 They deem it due, however, to the Committee of Investigation, as well 
 as to themselves, to say further, that, in the letter of the Committee of In- 
 vestigation of the SOth ultimo, there appears to be a misapprehension of the 
 meaning of the Committee of the Board in their letter of the 29th ultimo. 
 The Committee oftlie Board did not say, '<that the Committee of Investi- 
 gation had not come to any decision as to the mode of proceedisig to be 
 adopted." They do not know, nor can they, without failing in the respect 
 due to themselves, pretend to know, what may have been, or what may be, 
 the decisions of the Committee of Investigation, except so far as the com- 
 mittee may think fit to communicate them. Accordingly, their letter of 
 the 29th ultimo was founded entirely upon the resolutions of the same date, 
 copies of which were transmitted to them by the Committee of Investiga- 
 tion, and the passage above quoted, with its context, referred especially to 
 the following sentence in the second of those resolutions, to wit : *' But 
 this committee has not determined that it will become necessary to perform 
 that duty, out of the presence of those charged by the directors, to submit 
 the same to the inspection of the committee." Comparing this with the 
 resolutionsof the Board of Directors heretofore handed to the Committee of 
 Investigation, it did appear to the Committee of the Board that there was 
 no decision upon this material point, and, therefore, that there was <' as 
 yet no prjictical difference." 
 
 Acting upon the same jirinciple that has hitherto governed the Committee 
 of the Board, it is not their intention to question the statement of the Com- 
 mittee of Investigation, "that they have the power to compel the produc- 
 tion of the books and papers of the Bank," &c. That such is the opinion 
 of the Committee of Investigation, they have no doubt, and, as their opinion, 
 the Committee of the Board freely admit its claim to high respect. It is 
 only when ceasing to be opinion merely, it shall come in conflict with the 
 rights of the Baiik, or of those entrusted with its administration, (if ever 
 that should happen,) that the Committee of the Board will feel themselves 
 bound to examine its application. 
 
 In reply to that part of your letter in which you inquire whether the 
 Committee of Investigation " are authorized to conclude that the room 
 which has been offered for their accommodation at the banking house, can 
 be conveniently set apart for their exclusive use and occupation, from 10 
 o'clock A. M. until 3 P. M., during tlieir continuance in Philadelphia," I 
 am directed by the committee to say, that they still have, as they always 
 have had, every disposition to accommodate the Committee of Investigation;^ 
 and such, they are persuaded, is the dispositicn, also, of the Board. The 
 committee find their authority, in this respect, set forth in the resolutions 
 of the Board, of the 28th of April, 1834, communicated to the Committee
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 23 
 
 of Investigation on t!ie same tlay ; by which it appears that the Board 
 directed them to offer to the Committee of investigation " a room in the 
 banking house for its accommodation," and appointed them ''a Commit- 
 tee of Directors to exhibit the hooks and papers, according to the require- 
 ment of the charter." 15ut the Board at tlie same time declared that they 
 couhl not, ''consistefitly with their sense of dnty to the Bank, and of the ob- 
 ligations of the trust committed to them, consent to give up the custody and 
 possession of the books and papers of the Bank, nor to permit tiiem to be 
 examined, but in the presence of tlie committee appointed by the Board." 
 
 The Committee of the Board have great pleasui-e in renewing to the 
 Committee of Investigation the offer of the room in the manner pointed 
 out by this resolution, and in tendering any further service in their power, 
 that can promote the convenience of the Committee of Investigation. 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 Hon. Francis Thomas, Chairman of the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 ■ ♦ 
 
 B. 
 
 Committee Room, 
 J^'orth American Hotel, May 2, 18S4. 
 The following resolutions were adopted and transmitted to the Commit- 
 tee of Directors : 
 
 Whereas this committee, sincerely desirous to conduct the inquiries, 
 examinations, and investigations, which they have been required by the 
 House of Re|)resentativcs to make, with fairness, impartiality, order, and 
 despatch, have learned with regret that the directors of the Bank of the 
 United States have declined accommodating this committee with a room 
 in their banking house for the exciisive use and occupation of this com- 
 mittee : therefore, 
 
 Resolved, Tiiat the sittings of this com^nittee shall be held in their room 
 at tlie North American hotel, in the city of Philadelphia, until other, 
 wise oi-derod. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank of the 
 United States be required to submit for the inspection of this committee, 
 at their committee room, at the North American hotel, at 11 o'clock 
 A. M. on Saturday, the Sd day of May instant, the book or books which 
 contain the minutes of tlie proceedings of the Board of Directors at their 
 several sittings on the 1st and Sth days of October, in the year 183S, and 
 from the 21st day of April, 1834, to this day ; also, the report of a Com- 
 mittee of the Board, rejecting a proposition to transmit a copy of certain 
 resolutions adopted on the said 1st day of October, 1833, to the Secretary 
 of the Treasury of the United States ; also, the expense book of the Bank, 
 and the vouchers for expenses paid or incurred by said Bank since the Ist 
 of January, 1832. 
 
 [Reply to the foregoing'.] 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 MiyS, 1834. 
 
 At a special meeting of the President and Directors of the Bank of the 
 United States, held this day, the following resolution was unanimously 
 ado])ted :
 
 24 [ Rep. No, 481. ] 
 
 Resolved, That with every disposition on the part of tiic Board to con- 
 form to the wishes of the Committee of Investigation, so far as it may be 
 done without a violation of the trust reposed in tiiem, the Board cannot, 
 nevertheless, consent to let the books and papers of the Bank go out of 
 their care and custody, nor out of tlie banking house, which is their proper 
 place of deposite, and therefore they cannot comply with that part of the 
 resolution of the Committee of Investigation of the 2d inst., which re- 
 quires that certain of the books and papers of the Bank be sent to the 
 North American hotel this day at 1 1 o'clock, believing that this would 
 be contrary to their duty to the stockholders, and would transcend their 
 lawful power, as well as be liable to be deemed an abandonment of the 
 right to be present by themselves, or their committee, or agents, at the 
 examination and investigation, inferring in all these respects a very grave 
 responsibility, which the Board, in tlie exercise of their limited autiiority, 
 do not think they can be reasonably required to assume. 
 
 Jtxtract from the minutes : S. JAUDON, Cashier. 
 
 C. 
 
 Committee Room, 
 North American Hotel^ May 5, 1834. 
 
 On motion, the following resolution and order were adopted : 
 
 Wheieas the President and Directors of the Bank of the United States 
 have refused to submit certain of their books and proceedings to the in- 
 spection of this committee, at the committee room at the North American 
 hotel, as required in the committee's resolution of the 2d instant, but have 
 declared that they are not aware that they have declined to furnish this 
 committee a room in their banking house, for its exclusive use and occupa- 
 tion, as expressed in their second resolution of the Sd instant, and this com- 
 mittee is earnestly desirous fully to execute the resolution of the House of 
 Representatives, and does not waive the light to inspect the books of the 
 Bank, as required : therefore, 
 
 Besolved^ That this committee will repair to the banking house this day, 
 at 1 o'clock, to inspect such of the books called for in tlie resolution of 
 the 28th April, 1834, and such other books as they may require to be pro- 
 duced ; and that the chairman inform the Committee of Directors thereof. 
 
 *' Ordered, That, on arriving at the Bank, tiie chaiiman be authorized 
 to require of the President, or other officers, the production of tiie books of 
 the Bank, for inspection of this committee." 
 
 Thereujwn, the committee i)rocceded to the banking house. The chair- 
 ifnan inquired for Mr. Sergeant, chairman of the Committee of Directors, 
 and was told " he was not at the Bank." He then inquired for the Pre- 
 sident, and first Cashier of tlie Bank ; and, on their appearing, requested 
 each of them respectively to pi'oduce to the committee, for inspection, the 
 minute books containing the proceedings of the Board of Directors, and re- 
 quested the President to submit for inspection also the expense book, and 
 vouchers, showing the expenditures made under the resolution of the Board 
 passed November 30, 1830. Tlie President and Cashier declined comply- 
 ing with the request, alleging lliat they had no power to do so, the books 
 being in the custody of the Board of Directors. 
 
 The President then invited the committee to his room, where the 
 same conversation was repeated by the chairman of the committee, and 
 the President of the Bank. It was there proposed by Mr. Ellsworth,
 
 i Rep. No. 481. J 25 
 
 that the demand of the committee should be reduced to writing, which 
 was done by the adoption of the following order : 
 
 " Ordered, That the President of the Bank of the United States be 
 requested and required to submit to the Committee of Investigation the 
 minute book containing the proceedings of the Board of Directors of the 
 Bank of the United States, the expense account, and the vouchers for 
 expenditure under a resolution of the Board of the 30th November, 1830," 
 and 11th March, 1831. 
 
 " Ordered, That the Cashier of the Bank of the United States be, and 
 he is hereby, requested and required to submit, for the inspection of the 
 committee, the minute books containing the proceedings of the Board of 
 Directors since the 1st day of January, 1829." 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 May 5, 1834. 
 Sir : I have had the honor of receiving from you, personally, in my 
 interview this morning with the Committee of Investigation, a resolution 
 of the committee in the following words : 
 
 " Ordered, That the President of the Bank of the United States be 
 requested and required to submit to the Committee of Investigation the 
 minute book containing the proceedings of the Board of Directors of the 
 Bank of the United States, the expense account and vouchers for expen- 
 diture under a resolution of the Board of the 30th of Novemher, 1830," 
 and nth March, 1831. 
 
 In answer to this requisition, I have the honor to state that 1 have not 
 the custody of, nor control over, the books and papers mentioned in the 
 resolution. The general custody of the same is in the Board of Direc- 
 i tors of the Bank, who, by resolutions of the 24th and 28th ultimo, 
 already communicated to the committee, appointed a Committee of Di- 
 rectors for the purpose of exhibiting these books and papers to the Com- 
 mittee of Investigation, and declared that they could not permit them to 
 be examined except in the presence of the said Committee of Directors. 
 I am, therefore, unable to comply with the requisition contained in the 
 resolution. I have the honor to be. 
 
 Very respectfully, yours, 
 
 N. BIDDLE, President. 
 Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation, Philadelphia. 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 May 5, 1834. 
 Sir : I have had the honor of receiving from you, personally, in my 
 interview this morning with the Committee of Investigation, a resolution 
 of the said committee in the following words : 
 
 " Ordered, That the Cashier of the Bank of the United States be, and he 
 is hereby, requested and required to submit for the inspection of the 
 committee the minute books containing the proceedings of the Board of 
 Directors since the 1st of January, 1829." 
 
 In answer to this requisition, I have the honor to state that I have not 
 the custody of, nor control over, the books mentioned in the resolution. The 
 general custody of the same is in the Board of Directors of the Bank 
 4
 
 26 [ Rep. No. 48 1. J 
 
 who, by resolutions of the 24th and 28th ultimo, ah-eady communicated to 
 the Committee of Investigation, appointed a Committee of Directors for 
 the purpose of exhibiting these books and papers to the Committee of 
 Investigation, and declared that they could not permit them to be exam- 
 ined, except in the presence of the said Committee of Directors. I am, 
 therefore, unable to comply with the requisition contained in the reso- 
 lution. I have the honor to be, sir. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 S. JAUDON, Cashier. 
 To the Hon. Francis Thomas, )if 
 
 Chairman of the Com, of Investigation of the Ho. of Reps. U. S, 
 
 D. 
 
 North American Hotel, May 7, 1834. 
 
 The committee met at half past 10 o'clock A. M. all the members 
 being present. 
 
 The Chairman submitted the following resolution, which had been 
 received from the Committee of Directors : 
 
 Bank of the United States, May 6, 1834. 
 
 At a meeting of the committee, held this day, it was, on motion, 
 
 Resolved,, That the Committee of the Board will be prepared to re- 
 ceive the Committee of the House of Representatives of the United 
 States at the banking house of the Bank of the United States to-morrow 
 morning, the 7th instant, at 11 o'clock, then and there to proceed in the 
 execution of their duty, according to the requirement of the Board as 
 contained in the several resolutions, copies of which have heretofore been 
 communicated to the Committee of the House of Representatives of the 
 United States, as the same have been explained to be understood by the 
 committee, to which understanding they continue. 
 On motion. 
 
 Resolved,, That the committee will proceed to examine into the state- 
 ments made by the Government directors to the President of the United 
 States and to Congress, and for that purpose will, this day, call for the 
 production, for inspection, of the minute books, containing the proceed- 
 ings of the directors of the Bank, and the expense books and vouchers 
 for expenses incurred. 
 
 After having adopted this resolution, the committee proceeded to the 
 Bank of the United States and occupied the room assigned for their use ; 
 immediately thereafter they were attended by the Committee of Direc- 
 tors, when 
 
 Mr. Mason, as one of the committee, desired the production of the minute 
 book containing the proceedings of the Board of Directors from 30th 
 September, 1832, to this date (7th May, 1834.) 
 
 The Committee of Directors thereupon retired to deliberate on the pro- 
 priety of granting this request, and soon after returned, when their chair- 
 man presented the following paper to wit : 
 
 The Committee of the Board request to be furnished with a copy of 
 the resolution of the Committee of Investigation read to the Committee 
 of the Board this morning.
 
 [ Rep, No. 481. ] 27 
 
 The following resolution was then passed by the Committee of Inves- 
 tigation : 
 
 " Resolved, That a copy of the resolution of this committee read by 
 the chairman of the Committee of Investigation in the presence of the 
 Committee of Directors this day, and requested by said committee, 
 be furnished agreeably to their request, as matter of favor, and not of 
 right." 
 
 Mr. Muhlenberg desired that the books showing the accounts of Messrs. 
 
 , with the Bank of the United States, and papers explanatory of 
 
 such account, from the 1st day of January, 1832, to this day, may be sub- 
 mitted to the inspection of the committee. 
 
 The chairman requires that the expense book of the Bank, with the 
 vouchers, showing the expenses of the Bank, incurred by a resolution of 
 the 30th November, 1830, and the 11th March, 1831, be submitted to the 
 inspection of the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 The question being taken upon them, was carried in the afl&rmative, 
 without a division being called for. 
 
 Notice being given to the Committee of the Board of Directors that 
 the Committee of Investigation were ready to receive them, they attend- 
 ed, and the chairman stated to Mr. Sergeant, chairman of the Committee 
 of the Board, " that the committee had directed a copy of the resolution 
 requested by them, to be furnished ;" which was thereupon furnished to 
 Mr. Sergeant by the secretary. 
 
 The chairman also stated to Mr. Sergeant, that other books and papers 
 were specifically required by members of the committee, specifying to 
 him those required by Mr. Muhlenberg, Mr. Mason, and himself. The 
 Committee of the Board then retired, and in a few minutes returned ; and 
 Mr. Sergeant stated that he was authorized by the Committee of the 
 Board to offer certain resolutions, which he read, as follows : 
 
 Whereas it appears, from the resolution of the House of Represen- 
 tatives of the United States, appointing the Committee of Investigation, 
 that two distinct inquiries were contemplated, one of them directly to 
 ascertain whether the charter had been violated, and limited to the acts 
 of the corporation, and the other so very general and indefinite, as to 
 make it difficult, i( not impossible, to say whether it has any limits at all, 
 either as to the matters to be inquired into, or the mode of pursuing the 
 inquiry : and whereas it appears, from calls made by the Committee of 
 Investigation, that they have proposed a very wide range, embracing, 
 among other things, an extensive examination of the acts, transactions, 
 accounts, and letters of individuals, and thus instituting a kind of general 
 search, which is the more objectionable, because, if it have any purpose 
 at all, it must be to criminate those individuals, as well as the Bank ; and 
 if it have not this purpose, it is without any assignable object, and would 
 be an injurious invasion of private interests : and whereas, under these 
 circumstances, it is the duty of this committee, by all lawful means, to 
 protect the rights and sacred confidence entrusted to their keeping, and 
 to yield nothing, by consent, which cannot be legally demanded from 
 them : and whereas, after careful and anxious consideration, they are of 
 opinion that the inquiry can only be rightfully extended to alleged viola- 
 tions of the charter, and this inquiry ought to be conducted according to 
 some certain principles and rules : therefore,
 
 28 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee of Investigation be respectfully requir- 
 ed, when they ask for books and papers, to state specifically, in writing, 
 the purposes for which they are proposed to be inspected, and, if it be to 
 establish a violation of the charter, then to state specifically, in writing, 
 what are the alleged or supposed violations of charter to which the evi- 
 dence is alleged to be applicable. 
 
 Resolved, That, in the opinion of this committee, it would very much 
 conduce to the purposes of justice, as well as to the convenience of all 
 concerned, if the Committee of Investigation would furnish a specifica- 
 tion of all the charges intended to be inquired into, and proceed with 
 them in order as stated." 
 
 Mr. Mason requested the chairman to ask, " if the resolution is to be 
 considered specifically as the answer of the Bank to the calls for the books 
 and papers." Which being done, Mr. Sergeant replied, " not specifically, 
 but as relating to it, and indicative of the mode of proceeding deemed 
 right by the Bank." 
 
 The chairman having requested a specific answer, the Committee of 
 the Board retired, and returned in twenty minutes, and Mr. Sergeant 
 stated that he was instructed to give the answer of the committee in the 
 form of a resolution, which he then read, as follows : 
 
 " Resolved, That the Committee of the Board are of opinion that the 
 resolutions submitted by them to the Committee of Investigation this 
 morning, are preliminary to answers to specific calls, and respectfully 
 submitted for decision before any specific answers are made." 
 
 Whereupon, the following resolutions were adopted, and handed to the 
 Committee of Directors : 
 
 Whereas this committee have, by resolutions severally communicated 
 to the President and Directors of the Bank of the United States, declared, 
 that in discharging the duties confided to them by the House of Representa- 
 tives, they claimed, on their responsibility to that House and to their con- 
 stituents, to regulate their proceedings, to judge of the extent of their 
 powers and duties for themselves ; that they were not charged with the 
 duty of criminating the Bank, its directors, or others, but simply to in- 
 quire, amongst other things, whether such prosecution, in legal form, shall 
 be instituted, and that, in so doing, they would afford to every person, who 
 might appear to be implicated by their examinations, full and fair oppor- 
 tunity of explanation and defence : 
 
 1. Resolved, therefore, That, in performing the duty of " inspecting the 
 books and examining into the proceedings of the Bank," the committee 
 cannot rightfully be ' required,' and, from the nature of their duties, 
 cannot comply with a request to state specifically, in writing, the purposes 
 for which they are proposed to be inspected. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the committee cannot comply with a request or requi- 
 sition to specify what are the supposed violations of charter, because they 
 are not conducting a prosecution, but simply inquiring whether one shall 
 be instituted. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the Committee of Directors be, and they hereby are, 
 requested and required to submit for the inspection of this committee 
 the credit books and pay lists of the Bank, to enable this committee to 
 ascertain " whether it has used its corporatQ powers or money to control 
 the press, to interfere in politics, or influence elections."
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 29 
 
 4. Resolved^ That the Committee of Directors be requested and required 
 to submit for the inspection of this committee the minute books of the 
 Bank, together with the correspondence, journals, and other memoran- 
 dums of the proceedings of the Committeesof Exchange, on the state of the 
 Bank, and on the Oifices, that this committee may be enabled to ascertain 
 whether the Bank " has had any agency, through its management or mo- 
 ney, in producing the present pressure." 
 
 5. Resolved J That the Committee of Directors be, and they are hereby, re- 
 quested and required to submit for the inspection of this committee the 
 minute books containing the proceedings of the Board of Directors, to- 
 gether with the correspondence journals of the President of the Bank, the 
 Exchange Committee, the Committee on the state of the Bank, and the 
 Committee on the Offices, that this committee may be enabled to judge 
 whether the Board of Directors have violated the charter of the Bank, 
 by authorizing, permitting, or sanctioning the exercise of improper and 
 illegal powers by those committees, or by the President of the Bank. 
 
 Notice being given to the Committee of the Board, they attended, and 
 certified copies of the three last mentioned resolutions, and of Mr. Ma- 
 son's resolution, being furnished to them by the secretary, they requested 
 time to answer them, and retired. 
 
 [Reply to the foregoing request and resolution.] 
 
 Resolved, That after full deliberation, and with every feeling of re- 
 spect for the House of Representatives, and for the committee appointed 
 by them, and with a firm conviction that they have nothing to fear from 
 scrutiny of the affairs of the Bank, however severe, the Committee of 
 the Board are constrained to adhere to the resolutions yesterday handed 
 to the Committee of Investigation, and to decline complying with the 
 calls heretofore made upon them, in any other manner than is therein 
 laid down, believing this to be their duty, from which they are not at 
 liberty to depart. 
 
 The attention of the Board of Directors having been specially called to 
 the foregoing proceedings at the Bank on May 7, 1834, the following 
 resolution was passed, and forwarded to the Committee of Investigation : 
 
 Ba>k of the United States, 
 
 May 9, 1834. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Directors held this day, the foMowing re- 
 solutions were unanimously adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That the Board, having Iieai'd the report of the committee ap- 
 pointed on the £4th ult. upon the matters referred to them tliis mornitig, do 
 fully approve and sanction the resolutions adoj)ted by the committee on the 
 7th and 8th instants, and presented by tliem to the Committee of Investiga- 
 tion. 
 
 E. 
 
 The following resolution was adopted by the Committee of Investi- 
 gation during their sittings in Philadelphia, and transmitted to the Board 
 of Directors through their committee, to wit : 
 
 Resolved, That the President of the Bank of the United States be re*
 
 30 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 quested to furnish this committee with a list of the books of the Bank, 
 with a description of the purposes for which each is designed, and the 
 name of the clerk to whose care and custody they are respectively com- 
 mitted ; and, also, a copy of the by-laws now in force in the Bank, and 
 of the by-laws in force prior to the first Monday in December, 1829. 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 .ipril 25, 1834. 
 Sir : x liave the lionor to send to you, agi'ccably to your request, « a 
 list of the books of the Bank, \vith an explanation of the purposes for 
 whicli each is designed." 
 
 In regard to the remaining })art of (he inquiry, " the names of the clerks 
 to whose custody tiiey are respectively committed," I am instructed by the 
 Committee of ihc Board to say that tiicsc books arc not understood to be in 
 the cai-e and custody of the clerks, but in Ihe general custody of the Board. 
 I'he names of the clerks who make entries in them, and for tliat purpose 
 have possession of them during the hours of business, arc added to the list 
 of the books. 
 
 I also enclose '* a cojjy of the by-laws now in foi-ce in the Bank, and the 
 by-laws in foice prior to the first Monihiy of December, 1829.*' 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Ycry respectlullv, yours, 
 
 JOHN 'SKRGE ANT, Chairman. 
 Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation, Philadelphia. 
 
 The following resolutions were adopted by the Committee of Investi- 
 gation, at diff'erent times during their sittings in Philadelphia, and trans- 
 mitted to the Board of Directors through this committee, to wit: 
 
 Resolved, That tl>e President and Directors of the Baidv of tlie United 
 States be requested to furnish this committee with the following statements : 
 
 1. A statement showing the amount of public money on deposite in the 
 Bank and its braijches, respectively, to the credit of tlie Treasurer, and 
 other ofticers of the United States, in each month, from April, 1852, to 
 April, 1834, inclusive. 
 
 2. A statement showing the number of votes given at each election for 
 directoi's of the parent Bank since December, 1832; showing, also, what 
 number of votes were given in person by the stockholders, and what num- 
 ler by jjroxy, and by whom such proxies were held, and a list of the 
 directors elected at each election. 
 
 3. A statement showing the amount of gold and silver coin which has 
 been purcliased or sold by the Bank ; the names of persons from whom such 
 purchases, and to whom such sales, have been made, and the gross amount 
 of profit derived by the Bank therefrom ; and, also, showing the most usual 
 and highest prices received for each of the following descriptions of coin, 
 and whether the same have been sold in the United States, or in foreign 
 countries : 
 
 1. Gold eagles, halves and quarters, of United States coinage. 
 
 2. Silver dollars, halves and quarters, of the same coinage. 
 
 3. Spanish doubloons and their parts. 
 
 4. Patriot do do. 
 
 5. Spanish milled, Mexican, Peruvian, and Chilian dollars.
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 31 
 
 6. Englisli guineas and sovereigns. 
 
 7. Louis d'orsof France aiul five franc pieces. 
 
 8. Half Joes of Portugal and Brazil. 
 
 4. A statement showing the amount of gold or silver coin which has been 
 drawn by order of the parent Baidv from each of its Western, Southwest- 
 ern, and Southern olliccs ; ain! also the amount of specie which has been 
 sent thereto by the same authority. 
 
 5. A statement showing the namesofall persons, ali)habetirally arranged, 
 who wei'C intlcbted to tlic parent Bank on the first Monday of Decembei', 
 1829 ; showing, also, whether, by authority of the Board of Directors, 
 tlie Exchange Committee, the President, or other officer of the Bank, each 
 loan was made; tl»e residence of each borrower or debtor ; the terms on 
 which eacli loan v^as made; and whether each debtor was liable as drawer 
 
 or endorser, principal or SCCiU'it^'. 
 
 6. Statements, similar to tlie foregoing, of tiic debts due to tlic parent 
 Bank on the 1st day of June, 1832, and on thc28tii day of Aj)ril, 1834. 
 
 7. A statement sliowing tiie amount of foi-cigrj or domestic gold or silver 
 coin, or bullion, whicii !uis been exijorted by the Bank for cacii and every 
 mojit!i since the 1st of March, 1832, and tlie profits derived by the Bank 
 from such exportation ; and, also, the amount of S])ocie impoi-ted by the 
 Bank within the same pei'iod. 
 
 8. A statement showing the capital of eacli of the offices or branches of 
 the Bank, with a tabular statement showing the liabilities and resources 
 of each bi-atich or office, on the 1st of each and every month, from March, 
 1832, to April, 1834, inclusive. 
 
 9. A statement showing tiie amount of domestic hills possessed by each 
 of the branches and offices of the Bank, on tlie first day of each month 
 from March, 1832, to April, 1834, inclusive; showing, also, the jilaces at 
 which the same were purchased, and the time when, and places where, the 
 same were or will be payable. 
 
 10. A statement showing the amount of money wbicli has been at any 
 time loaned by the Bank, on pledges of stock as collateral security, the 
 kind and descriptitm of stocks thus jiledgcd, the date and terms of each 
 loan, the names of the boi-rowcrs, with the amount loaned to each, and the 
 amount now due by each borr.)wer respectively. 
 
 11. A statement showing the names of the stockholders of the Bank, 
 with the number of shares held by each ; their official stations, if in office; 
 and showing, also, the aggregate luiniber and value of the shares held by 
 foreigners and citizens of the United States, res|)ectively. 
 
 12. Resolved, Thsit the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of 
 the United States be requested to furnish this eommitteo with a list of the 
 names and residence of all persons who surrendered their certificates 
 of three per cent, stock, and received a credit on the books of the Bank 
 therefor ; the time when, and amount placed at the credit of each ; the 
 aggregate amount thus surrendered, and the dates at which the same 
 were paid by the Bank to the proprietors ; the names of the agents em- 
 ployed by the Bank in any negotiations or arrangements to postpone the 
 payment of said stocks ; the compensation allowed to each agent, and the 
 amount of expenses allowed to each in addition to compensation. 
 
 13. Resolved., That the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank 
 <oi the United States be requested to furnish this committee with the en-
 
 32 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 tire correspondence between said Bank, or any of its agents, and the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, and Baring, Brothers, and Company, and Hot- 
 tinguer and Company, touching the bill of exchange drawn by the Trea- 
 sury Department on the French Government on the 7th of June, 
 1833 ; also, copies of all accounts and accounts current with said Bank, 
 from either Baring, Brothers, and Company, or Hottinguer and Compa- 
 ny, between the 1st of January and July, 1833. 
 
 14. Resolved, That the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank 
 of the United States be requested to furnish the committee with a statement 
 showing the names of all special agents employed by the Bank since its 
 establishment, the object of such agencies, the compensation allowed to 
 each, the services rendered by each, the duration of such agencies, the 
 expenses allowed to each, in addition to compensation, and whether 
 either of such agents was either members of Congress, of State Legisla- 
 tures, or officers of the General Government at the time of employment. 
 
 15. Resolved, That the Piesident, Directors, and Company of the Bank 
 be requested to furnish the committee with a statement, showing tlie whole 
 numher of slaves which it has taken since its cstablisliment, by purchase or 
 in payment of debts, the time when, and from whom, each was taken, tlie 
 amount of debt tlicy were taken to pay or secure, and whether such debts 
 were under protest when such slaves were taken, the names of all parties 
 obligated upon each debt, and whether such slaves have been sold by the 
 Bank, and if so, the amount obtained for each, the deficiency or excess 
 in each case of sale in respect to the debt on which such slaves were taken, 
 designating the branches at which sucli slaves \^ere taken or sold. 
 
 16. Resolved, Tliat the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank 
 of the United States be requested to furnish the committee with copies of 
 all correspondence between the President of the Bank or any of its officer 
 with members of Congress, or of unanswered letters received from any 
 one of them since the 1st day of July, 1832, to uching the renewal of the 
 charter of the Bank, the removal or restoration of tlie public deposites, 
 or touching the business transactions of such members with said Bank. 
 
 17. Resolved, That the President, Directors, and Company of the 
 Bank of the United States be requested to furnish this committee with 
 copies of all legal opinions which it may have obtained from counsel, 
 touching the right of the Bank to hold the public moneys in defiance of 
 the powers or orders of the Secretary of the Treasury to remove the 
 same ; also, copies of all the opinions obtained from counsel in relation 
 to delivering over, as directed by the proper officer, the funds, books, 
 and papers, provided for paying revolutionary pensions, or annuities, 
 under the act of 7th June, 1832. 
 
 18. Resolved, That the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank 
 of the United States be requested to furnish this committee with a state- 
 ment of their expense account since the 1st of January, 1829, up to 
 the date this resolution is complied with ; showing] the items and total 
 for each half year, corresponding with the entries on their expense 
 book, and showing the names and residence of all persons to whom 
 any payments have been made ; the amount to each, and the time and 
 consideration of such payments, with copies of all vouchers taken for 
 such payments. 
 
 19. Resolved, That the President, Directors, nnd Company of the Bank 
 of the United States be requested to furnish this committee with the 
 particular items, and the aggregate of all fees and compensation paid
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 33 
 
 ^3uring each year to attorneys, counsellors, or lawyers, since the establish- 
 ment of the Bank ; stating the amount paid to each person employed, 
 together with their residence, the times when the payments were 
 made, and the particular services rendered for each charge paid ; also, 
 whether the same has been paid at the parent Bank or branches, and 
 at which, designating them ; also, of all sums paid as a general or annual 
 fee or salary to counsellors for the Bank, specifying the names of such 
 persons, the amounts, and times, and places of payment ; and, also, 
 whether such sums were paid by the order in each case of the Board of 
 Directors, or how otherwise paid ; designating such sums as have been 
 paid in cash, and such as may have been passed to the credit of such 
 persons or others, in payment of any debt or debts due to said Bank. 
 
 20. Resolved, That the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank 
 of the United States, be requested to furnish this committee with the 
 entire correspondence between it and the New York branch since the 
 1st day of January, 1833. 
 
 21. Resolved, That the President, Directors, and Company, of the Bank 
 of the United States, be requested to furnish this committee with a detail- 
 ed statement of all loans made since the 1st of January, 1829, to individ- 
 uals who the)i were, who have been since, or who now are, members of 
 Congress ; stating the amount of each loan, when the same was made, for 
 "Nvhat term the secui-ity was given, and the time when such security was 
 received ; and also the security which the Bank now holds, and the amount 
 now owing by any and each of such borrowers, or other persons for the 
 benefit of such borrowers, at the Bank or either of the branches, and sta- 
 ting, also, the particulars of any such loans which have been protested, or 
 which aie now under protest, and the names of the parties to any such debts'; 
 also the names (if any) of persons whose notes have been renewed after the 
 Fame had become due, and not protested or renewed, with the names of in- 
 ilividuals, parties to said renewals, whose notes were under protest at tlje 
 times si:ch renewals were made ; and also whether such loans in each case 
 were made by the directors, or otherwise, and by what authoiity. 
 
 22. Resolved, That the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank 
 of the United States, be requested to furnish this committee with a state- 
 ment in detail of all overdrafts which have been made on said Bank or 
 l)ranches siiice 1829, by members of Congress or State Legislatures, the 
 time such overdrafts were made ; and, also, by printers, editors, and 
 publishers of newspapers or periodicals ; stating the time and amount of 
 
 each overdraft, by whom made, the period such overdrafts remained 
 unpaid, and the time and manner such drafts have been paid or secured. 
 
 23. Resolved, That the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of 
 the United States be requested to furnish the committee with a statement 
 of the outstanding certificates of the public debt, for which the Bank 
 holds the money on deposite to redeem, under the designation of " re- 
 demption of public debt ;" showing the names and residence of the hold- 
 ers of such outstanding certificates ; the amount of each, and the aggregate 
 of the whole ; the class of loans to which they belong respectively, and 
 •whether the Bank has paid interest to any of the holders of the same 
 since they fell due and payable. 
 
 24. Resolved, Tl»at llie President and Directors of the Bank be re- 
 quested to furnish this committee with a statement sliowiug the amount of 
 ilebt directly or indirectly due or owing to s.iid Bank by and 
 
 5
 
 34 [ Rep. No. 48i. ] 
 
 , or either or both, jointly or severally, or by any other person fop 
 their benefit, or the benefit of either of them ; showing also the amount of 
 debt thus due at any time heretofore, with a statement of all payments on 
 their account, with the dates thereof, since the 1st of April, 1832, with co- 
 pies of any'deed or deeds of trust, arrangement, coritract, or agreement, or 
 assignment, entered into between said Bank and them, or either of them, 
 or others for the benefit of said Bank, or in which it may have a beneficial 
 interest ; also copies of the entire correspondence between said Bank, or 
 any officer thereof, and the said and — — — , or either of them ; al- 
 so a copy of any consent wh.ich the Bank may have given, so far as con- 
 cerned, permitting to establish and publish a nivvspaper in the city 
 
 of , notwithstanding his contract with to the contrary. 
 
 25. Hesolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be re- 
 quested to furnish this committee with a statement of the amount of debt 
 directly or indirectly due or oving to the said Bank, or any of its branch- 
 es, from , editor of the , or any other person for his account or 
 
 benefit ; stating the maximum of his loans or debt at any time since he be- 
 came indebted, the times and places when and where contracted, and the 
 time and manner in which the same has been paid, reduced, or secured, 
 and with copies of its entire correspondence with the said . 
 
 26. Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be re- 
 quested to furnish this committee with a statement, showing the details of 
 
 the debt which has, at any time, been owing by , publisher 
 
 of the , since March, 1832, and showing how the same has 
 
 been settled, secured, or arranged ; also, copies of all proceedings of 
 the Board of Directors, or any committee or oflicer of said Bank, in re- 
 lation to said debt, since that period ^ showing also the amount of loss, \i 
 any, it has, or may probably, sustain by him. 
 
 [Reply of the Board to the foregoing resolutions.] 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 May 3, 1834. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Board, held this day, the following resolu- 
 tion was, on motion, unanimously adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That the Board do not feel themselves at liberty to com- 
 ply with the requirement of the resolutions of the Committee of Investi- 
 gation of the 29th ult. and 1st inst., and do not think they are bound to 
 do so, inasmuch as, in respect to a part of the papers called for, the effect 
 would be the same as the surrender of their books and papers to a secret 
 and ex parte examination, which they have already refused to consent to; 
 and as to the other part, they relate to matters over which the Board 
 have no control, and if they could overcome these objections, and had 
 power over all the papers, still it would be impossible for them to com- 
 ply within any reasonable time, having ascertained, by a careful exami- 
 nation, that the copies and statements called for by the resolutions of the 
 29th ult. alone would require the uninterrupted labor of two clerks for 
 at least ten months to make them out, and that the remaining resolutions, 
 so far as they concern matters not beyond the reach of the Board, would 
 require a great additional time, which they are not able exactly to com- 
 pute without causing what they fear w'ould be an inconvenient delay to 
 the Committee of Investigation; and they take it for granted that it.
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 35 
 
 would no more comport with the views of the Committee of Investiga- 
 tion to wait till so distant a period, than it would with the rights of the 
 Bank to have such a burden imposed upon it. 
 Extract from the minutes : 
 
 S. JAUDON, Cashier. 
 
 F. 
 The following resolution was adopted by the Committee of Investiga- 
 tion : 
 
 Committee Room, May 9, 1834. 
 
 Resolved, That the chairman of this committee, in pursuance of tiie 
 authority of the House of Representatives of llie United States, and the 
 terms atid rules regulating its proceedings, do issue a suhpcena duces tecum 
 to be directed to Nicholas Biddle, President, Manuel Eyre, Matthew Ncw- 
 kirk, John Sergeant, Charles Chauncey, John S. Henry, John R. Neff, 
 Ambrose White, Daniel W. Coxe, John Goddard, James C. Fisher, Law- 
 rence Lewis, John Holmes, and William Piatt, directors of the Bank of 
 the United States, to be and appear before this committee, at their com- 
 mittee room in the North American hotel, in the city of Pliiladelphia, at 
 12 o'clock at noon, on Saturday, the 10th instant, and to bring with 
 them the credit books of said Bank, showing the indebtedness of individuals 
 to said Bank at the present time. 
 
 By authority of the House of Representatives of the United States. 
 
 To Benjamin S. Bonsall, 
 
 Marshal of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania : 
 
 You are hereby commanded to summon Nicholas Biddle, President, 
 Emanuel Eyre, Matthew Newkirk, John Sergeant, Charles Chauncey, 
 John S. Henry, John R. Neff, Ambrose White, Daniel W. Coxe, John 
 Goddard, James C. Fisher, Lawrence Lewis, John Holmes, and William 
 Piatt, directors of the Bank of the United States, to be and appear before 
 the Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States, ap- 
 pointed on the 4th day of April, 1834, " for the purpose of ascertaining, 
 as far as practicable, the cause of the commercial embarrassment and dis- 
 tress complained of by numerous citizens of the United States, in sundry 
 memorials which have been presented to Congress at the present session, 
 and of inquiring whether the charter of the Bank of the United States 
 has been violated, and also what corruptions and abuses have existed in 
 its management; whether it has used its corporate power, or money, to 
 control the press, to interfere in politics, or influence elections ; and whether 
 it has had any agency, through its management or money, in producing 
 the existing pressure ; also, to inspect the books and examine into the 
 proceedings of the said Bank, and whether the provisions of the charter 
 have been violated or not ; and what abuses, corruptions, or malpractices 
 have existed in the management of said Bank ; and also to examine into 
 the affairs of the said Bank and branches ; and further, to visit the prin- 
 cipal Bank, or any of its branches, for the purpose of inspecting the books, 
 correspondence, accounts, and other papers connected with its manage- 
 ment or business," in their chamber in the North American hotel, in the
 
 d6 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 city of Philadelphia, and to bring with them the credit books of said Bank, 
 showing the indebtedness of individuals to said Bank on the tenth day ot 
 May instant, at the hour of 12 o'clock, M. then and there to testify touching 
 the matters of said inquiry, and to submit said books to said committee 
 for inspection. 
 
 Herein fail not, and make return of this summons. 
 
 Witness the seal of the House of Representatives of the United 
 
 J. •, States, and the signature of the Hon. Francis Thomas, chairman 
 
 *• 'J of the said committee, at the city of Philadelphia, this ninth day 
 
 of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four. 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS. 
 Attest: W. S. FRANKLIN, 
 
 Clerk House of Representatives U. S. 
 
 Committee Room, May 10, 1834, 10 o^clock A. M. 
 
 The following resolution was, on motion, adopted : 
 
 Hesolved, That tliis committee will proceed to examine Nicholas Biddle, 
 Esquire, President of the Bank of the United States, touching his having 
 acted under the resolutions of tiie Board of Directors of tlie 30th Novem- 
 ber, 1830, and the 11th March, 1831 ,♦ and as to what amount of money 
 lie has expended under those resolutions since the 30th day of Novemher, 
 1833, to this day. 
 
 At 12 o'clock at noon, Nicholas Biddle, Esquire, and Messrs. Manuel 
 Eyre, Matthew Newkirk, John Sergeant, Charles Chauncey, John S. 
 Henry, John R. Neff, Ambrose AVliite, Daniel W. Coxe, John Goddard, 
 James C. Fisher, Lawrence liCwis, John Holmes, and Wm. Piatt, pre- 
 sented lliemselves at the committee room, and Mr. Sergeant stated ** that 
 they came in pursuance of the precept served on them individually 
 by the marshal, and that he would read their individual answer to it.'* 
 He then read tlie following paper, and, having done so, handed it to the 
 committee. 
 
 [Reply of Directors to subpoena. ] 
 
 The undersigned having been individually served by B. S. Bonsall, 
 Esquire, marshal of the eastern disti-ict of Pennsylvania, with a copy 
 of a process, dated the 9tl> instant, by which he was commanded to sum- 
 mon them, by the following names and descrii)ti()ns, to wit: Nicholas 
 Biddle, President, Emanuel Eyre, Matthew Newkirk, John Sergeant, 
 Charles Chauncey, John S. Henry, John R. NcflT, Ambrose White, Daniel 
 W. Coxe, John Goddard, James C. Fisher, Lawrence Lewis, John 
 Holmes, and Wm. Plait, directors of the Bank of the United States, to 
 be ajid appear before the Committee of the House of Representatives of the 
 United States, appointed on the 4th day of Ajjril, 1834, in their chamber, 
 in the North American hotel, in the city of Pliiladelphia, and tobring with 
 them the credit books of said Bank, showing the indebtedness of indivi- 
 duals to said Bank on the 10th day of May instant, at the hour of 12 
 o'clock M., tlien and there to testify touching the matters of said inquiry, 
 and to submit said books to said committee lor inspection, have consulted 
 together, that they might be assisted by the judgment of each other as to 
 the course they were individually to pursue, and have concurred, each for 
 himself, iu the conclusion, for the government of his individual conduct,
 
 [ Rep, No. 481. ] 37 
 
 which will now be stated, and, to avoid misapprehension or controversy, 
 have reduced their answer to writing, signed with their names, and here- 
 with respecttully presented, each for himself, as follows : 
 
 1. Without waiving any ohjection there may be to the legality of the said 
 process, or the service, (which is expressly reserved,) we deem it most con- 
 sistent with the respect we wish, upon all occasions, to acknowledge to be 
 due to the Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States, 
 to attend upon them in person, and accordingly do so attend, to manifest 
 our respect, not to admit any obligation. 
 
 2. We do not produce the books specified in the paper before mentioned, 
 that is to say, « the credit books of said Bank, showing the indebtedness 
 of individuals to said Bank," because they are not in ti»e custody of either 
 of us, but, as has been heretofore stated, of the Board, whose views upon 
 this subject, we would take occasion to say, have already been respect- 
 fully communicated to the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 3. AVe do not know whetiier it was the intention of the Committee of In- 
 vestigation to call upon either of us to testify, or whether the object of the 
 paper was not simply to require us to produce "the credit books of said 
 Bank, showing the indebtedness of individuals to said Bank." But to 
 avoid unnecessary trouble to the comnnttee, and in the spirit of frankness 
 required by the respect that is due to them, \se have deemed it proper to 
 consider the alternative first mentioned, and each of us now says for him- 
 self that, considering the nature of the proceeding and the character of the 
 inquiry, even as explained in the resolution of the Committee of Investiga- 
 tion of the 7th instant, and considering that, as corporators and as direc- 
 tors, we are parties to the proceeding, we do not consider ourselves bound 
 to testify, and, therefore, respectfully decline to do so. We are sure that 
 the committee will duly estimate the sacrifice we make of personal feeling 
 in thus deciding, conscious, as we are, that we have no knowledge which, 
 if a necessary regard to our duties and the rights of others permitted, we 
 would not willingly expose without reserve. 
 
 N. Biddle Ambrose White 
 
 Manuel Eyre Daniel W. Coxe 
 
 Matthew Nevvkirk John Goddaid 
 
 John Sergeant James C. Fisher 
 
 Ch. Chauncey Lawrence Lewis 
 
 John S. Henry John Holmes 
 
 John R. Neflf W. Piatt. 
 Philadelphia, May 10, 1834. 
 
 The following resolution was adopted, and transmitted to the Com- 
 mittee of Directors : 
 
 Committee Room, May 10, 1834. 
 
 Whereas resolutions have been adopted by this committee, into which 
 the names of private individuals were necessarily introduced, that the 
 Committee of Directors might more readily know where the accounts or 
 papers which were called for, to be examined confidentially, were to be 
 found ; and whereas it has never been the intention of this committee 
 to publish such resolutions, unless, after such confidentiale xamination, it
 
 88 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 should appear that the duty of the committee, under the resolution of 
 inquiry, required it ; and whereas the directors of the Bank have de- 
 clined to produce the accounts thus called for, and this committee, un- 
 willing to excite suspicions against any one which they have not the 
 means either to justify or remove, and there is no longer necessity for 
 such injunction of confidence : therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the members of this committee be, and they are releas- 
 ed from the injunction which has been imposed to consider confidential 
 their journal and proceedings, except such parts thereof where the names 
 of private individuals appear. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolution be 
 forwarded to the Committee of Directors.
 
 REPORT 
 
 ^MINORITY OF THE COMMITTEE FOR INVESTIGATING 
 
 THE 
 
 AFFAIRS OF THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 May 22,1834. 
 
 Printed by order of the House of Representatives. 
 
 Mr. Everett, from the minority of the Committee appointed to in^^es- 
 tigate the affairs of the Bank of the United States, submitted the fol- 
 lowing 
 
 REPORT : 
 
 The undersigned, members of the committee for investigating the 
 affairs of the Bank of the United States, having differed from their col- 
 leagues as to the extent of the powers of the committee, and the mode of 
 pursuing the investigation, beg leave to submit the grounds of this differ- 
 ence, and their reasons for not concurring in the report of the majority of 
 the committee. 
 
 The twenty-third section of the law, approved on the 10th of April, 1816, 
 (commonly called the Bank charter,) makes the following provision: " It 
 shall at all times be lawful for a committee of either House of Congress, 
 appointed for that purpose, to inspect the books, and to examine into the 
 proceedings of the corporation hereby created, and to report whether the 
 provisions of this charter have been, by the same, violated or not." This 
 provision is, in terms, an express grant of power to either House of Con- 
 gress ; and, consequently, but for this grant, neither House would have 
 possessed the power. To suppose that either House of Congress 
 would have possessed the power, although the charter had been silent on 
 the subject, is to suppose that so much of the twenty-third section of the 
 charter as gives the power, is mere surplusage, — an unauthorized and in- 
 admissible supposition. 
 
 If the power reserved in the twenty-third section had been already 
 possessed by either House of Congress, it must have been in virtue of its 
 general authority to institute inquiries, and to send for persons and papers. 
 But had the Congress, who granted the charter, understood that this au- 
 thority to send for persons and papers extended to the inspection of the 
 books of the Bank, they could not have deemed it necessary to provide 
 that it should be lawful, at any time, for either House of Congress to ap- 
 point a committee for such inspection. 
 
 The resolution passed on the 4th of April last, under which the Com- 
 mittee of Investigation was appointed, is expressed in the following terms ; 
 " Resolved, That, for the purpose of ascertaining, as far as practicable, 
 the cause of the commercial distress and embarrassment complained of
 
 40 [ Rep. No. 481.] 
 
 "by numerous citizens of the United States, in sundry memorials which' 
 have been presented to Congress at the present session, and of inquiring 
 whether the charter of the Bank of the United States has been violated; 
 and, also, what corruptions and abuses have existed in its management; 
 whether it has used its corporate power, or money, to control the press, 
 to interfere in politics, or influence elections ; or whether it has had any 
 agency, through its management or money, in producing the existing 
 pressure, a select committee be appointed, to inspect the books, and exam- 
 ine into the proceedings of the said Bank, who shall report whether the 
 provisions of the charter have been violated or not ; and, also, what 
 abuses, corruptions, or malpractices have existed in the management of 
 said Bank ; and that the said committee be authorized to send for persons 
 and papers, and to summon and examine witnesses on oath, and to exam- 
 ine into the affairs of the said Bank and branches ; and they are further 
 authorized to visit the principal Bank, or any of its branches, for the pur- 
 pose of inspecting the books, correspondence, accounts, and other papers 
 connected with its management or business ; and that the said committee 
 be required to report the result of such investigation, together with the 
 evidence they may take, at as early a day as possible." 
 
 The committee, thus appointed, is clothed with the power granted to 
 either House of Congress, by the twenty-third section of the charter, the 
 same being given to it by the express words of the resolution, which au- 
 thorizes it to " inspect the books, and examine into the proceedings of the 
 said Bank," and " report whether the provisions of the charter have beea 
 violated or not." 
 
 Had the resolution stopped here, its interpretation would have been easy- 
 It would have been ( and would so have necessarily been Understood ) a 
 resolution creating a committee under the power granted by the twenty- 
 third section of the charter, and for the precise objects, and no other, 
 therein provided for. But the resolution of the House goes much farther. 
 It purports to authorize the committee to engage in a much wider range 
 of inquiry than the violation of the charter. It declares the objects of 
 investigation to be threefold, viz. 1st, the causes of the commercial em- 
 barrassment and distress alleged to exist; 2d, violations of the charter ; 
 3d, corruptions and abuses in the management of the Bank, of which se- 
 veral are alluded to, in very general and comprehensive terms, as will 
 be perceived by recurrence to the resolution just quoted. Of these three 
 objects, the second only is the one on which a committee, raised in pur- 
 suance of the twenty-third section of the charter, is authorized to report. 
 
 As the resolution of the House enumerates objects of inquiry not nam- 
 ed in the charter, so it specifies means of attaining information, not pro- 
 vided for in that law. It authorizes the committee " to send for persons 
 and papers, and to summon and examine witnesses on oath, and to exa- 
 mine into the affairs of the said Bank and branches." 
 
 The point of chief question in this matter has been, what extension of 
 the powers possessed by the committee, in virtue of the twenty-third sec- 
 tion of the law, is effected by this additional detail of the objects to be* 
 investigated, and of the means for attaining knowledge concerning them. 
 
 The subscribers understand their colleagues, the majority of the com- 
 mittee, to claim, under the terms of the resolution, an unlimited 
 power of inquiry after all the conceivable corruptions and malpractices.-
 
 \ Rep. No. 481. ] 41 
 
 of the Bank, and of sending for the persons of its oflicers and directors, 
 and for any and all of its books and papers, in order to ascertain whether 
 any such corruptions and malpractices exist. The subscribers believe 
 that no such power of general search is given to the committee by the 
 resolution ; and that it was not competent for either House of Congress 
 to give it. In their difference of opinion from their brethren of the ma- 
 jo>ity on this head, will be found the chief source of their dissent from 
 most of the important measures proposed by the committee. 
 
 Before explaining their views more distinctly, they would observe, to 
 avoid all misconception, that it is no part of their purpose to maintain that 
 the power of the committee is confined to an inquiry, whether the char-., 
 ter of the Bank has been Violated. The undersigned believe it is com- 
 petent for the House to inquire into any alleged abuse or corruption 
 whatsoever, to the utmost latitude required by the public good, and au- 
 thorized by the principles of justice and law. They believe that the 
 committee, of which they are members, was authorized to make such in- 
 quiries. They believed, however, that these inquiries were to be con- 
 ducted according to the charter ; that is, according to law ; and accord- 
 ing to those general principles of equity and constitutional right which 
 cannot be transcended, in virtue of any resolution of either House of 
 Congress ; and which the undersigned are unwilling to believe that 
 either House of Congress could attempt or wish to transcend. 
 
 The undersigned have already, as they think, shown, that the provision, 
 in the charter is a grant of power, which would not otherwise have been 
 possessed by either House. So far, therefore, is the general power of 
 sending for persons and papers from enlarging the charter power, that this 
 latter is an addition to the power of sending for persons and papers. The 
 power, therefore, possessed by the committee under the charter, and 
 recited in the resolution, is not, and cannot be extended or enlarged hy 
 any thing else in that resolution. No limitation imposed by the charter 
 upon the inquiry which the committee is thereby authorized to make, or 
 the mode of making it, can be removed by the general parliamentary 
 power of the House to institute investigations, and send for persons and 
 papers. It would be an absurdity to make a charter provision for ex- 
 tending the general powers of the House, and then to seek to enlarge the 
 powers conveyed in that provision, by the addition of something else, 
 supposed to belong to the general authority of the House. 
 
 In addition to this, it must be recollected that the charter is a con- 
 tract proposed by the Government to the stockholders, and voluntarily 
 entered into by them. This power of visitation, and of subjecting the 
 books to inspection, is one of the conditions of the contract, onerous to 
 the stockholders. To attempt to enlarge it by construction, is to attempt, 
 contrary to the faith of the country, to interpolate new and oppressive 
 conditions into the contract. The undersigned, therefore, maintain that 
 a resolution of one House of Congress, passed in virtue of its general 
 power of inquisition, cannot enlarge the specific provisions of a law. But 
 they do not therefore hold that this committee could not, under the au- 
 thority of the resolution of the House, inquire into any other matters 
 than breaches of the charter. They maintain only that this is a power 
 to be exercised agreeably to law and justice ; that it is not an absolute 
 inquisitorial power ; that it does not authorize a committee of either 
 6
 
 42 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 House to prosecute a secret inquiry of indefinite character, after any and 
 every abuse, probable or possible. It does not extend the right of in- 
 specting the books, granted for one purpose alone, so as to authorize their 
 inspection for purposes totally different. It does not put it in the power 
 of a committee to issue warrants of general search, and compel the ap- 
 pearance of citizens, and the production of papers, not in proof or dis- 
 proof of charges against third persons, by evidence of which they are the 
 legal depositaries, but in order to enable such a committee to find out by 
 these papers, whether those who bring them are not themselves guilty 
 of misdemeanors. Such a power as this, the undersigned wholly reject, 
 as abhorrent to reason and justice; unknown to the constitution of this 
 country ; at war with its spirit and with its letter ; and utterly repugnant 
 to the public sentiment of the people. To claim such a power, is to 
 claim for either House of Congress the right, in virtue of a resolution, of 
 ^sending to the remotest corners of the Union for any number of persons, 
 compelling them to attend a committee, with all their papers, to submit 
 to be examined on oath ; to exhibit those papers for inspection ; and thus 
 to enable such committee to find matter of fixing on such individuals 
 the charge of gross, but previously unspecified, misdemeanors and cor- 
 ruptions. 
 
 It is not necessary for the undersigned to endeavor to define what are the 
 limits of the powers of inquiry possessed by the Houses of Congress. It is 
 sufficient for their present purposes to have shown, (and the proposition is 
 proved in its enunciation,) what they are not and cannot be. It cannot 
 be within the competence of a committee of the House to institute a 
 general search, and compel the citizens on oath to purge themselves if 
 innocent, and criminate themselves if guilty ; and bring with them their 
 papers to be ransacked in a roving hunt for unspecified crimes. The 
 constitution reserves to the people the right, ( a right inviolable with- 
 out the reservation,) "to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
 and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." Of all un- 
 reasonable searches that can be imagined, none is more signally so 
 than a general search into the papers possessed by a person, whether 
 individual or corporate, with a view to find (if it should happen to exist) 
 matter of crimination against that person. A general search for an^/ pur- 
 pose is unreasonable ; for the object of criminating the individual search- 
 ed, it would be at war with the first principles of justice, and, as exercised 
 by a committee of the House of Representatives, one branch of a Legisla- 
 ture of limited constitutional jurisdiction, an enormous assumption of 
 power. It would be unreasonable, because, as no man is beyond the pos- 
 sibility of doing wrong, the right to institute a general search, if it exist- 
 ed, would be a right of inquisition into the affairs of every individual in 
 the community ; a right too extravagant to be claimed by any Government 
 pretending to be limited by law, and never exercised by any but those 
 odious and arbitiary tribunals which are handed down to the undying exe- 
 cration of mankind. It would be at war with the first principles of justice, 
 which, as a general rule, compel no man to criminate himself, directly 
 or indirectly, nor to furnish the means of his own crimination. It would 
 be an enormous assumption of power on the part of either House of Con- 
 gress ; a body whose jurisdiction does not extend to any considerable 
 portion of the conceivable crimes and misdemeanors which such a search
 
 ^ rvep. No. 481. J 43 
 
 might, if they had been committed, bring out ; and who can surely lay 
 claim to no power of searching out matters, which, if the search be suc- 
 cessful, are without its province, both of legislation and punishment. 
 
 It may be observed that, if the right of making such a search of the 
 Bank of the United States be claimed in virtue of the general powers 
 of inquiry possessed by the House, it extends to every State bank in the 
 Union, as fully as to the Bank of the United States. The charter gives 
 a power of visiting the corporation thereby created, and of course ex- 
 clusively confined to the Bank of the United States. That power, as 
 has been urged, can be applied only to the objects for which it is given, 
 viz. to enable a committee to report " whether the provisions of the 
 charter have been violated or not." But if we go further, and claim a 
 right, under the general power of inquisition possessed by the House, to 
 search the Bank for objects not made subjects of search by the char- 
 ter, then it is obvious that the corporators and directors of the Bank of 
 the United States are no more amenable to such a search in their 
 persons, books, and papers, than the corporators or directors of any other 
 bank, of any insurance office, trust company, turnpike, canal, or railroad 
 company, or any other private citizens. The right, therefore, claimed by 
 the majority of the committee, if it transcend in the slightest degree the 
 limitations of the charter, must flow from a claim of power, which would 
 bring within its grasp every corporation, every citizen, and every book 
 and paper in the United States, and subject them, at any time, to a general 
 search of a committee of either House of Congress. 
 
 Should it be contended that, as a great stockholder, the Govern- 
 ment has a right to institute this search, the answer is obvious. The 
 House of Representatives is not the Government ; and the Government, 
 as a stockholder, has no rights not possessed by the other stockholders, or 
 to be exercised in any other way. In the contract between the Govern- 
 ment and the stockholders, by which the Bank was created a corporation 
 of a character partly private and partly public, the Government reserved 
 to itself all the powers which it thought were required to protect its in- 
 terests as a stockholder, or which were needed in reference to any other 
 relations of the Bank to the country. To these reservations, the stock- 
 holders, by accepting the charter, assented. They cannot now be ex- 
 tended to the prejudice of the Bank, without a violation of law and a 
 breach of faith. 
 
 The undersigned are far from intending to charge their respected col- 
 leagues, from whom they differed with pain, with the design consciously 
 to institute a search of this character into the aftairs of the Bank, but 
 they felt obliged to dissent from a considerable portion of their measures, 
 deeming them, in effect, (though certainly not so intended,) to have all 
 the essential characters of such a general and unlawful search. The 
 justice of this remark Avill, as the undersigned think, abundantly appear, 
 from a review of the principal measures adopted by the committee, which 
 will now, for this reason, be briefly examined. 
 
 1. The first step taken was a call by the Committee of Investigation 
 on the Committee of Directors, for " a list of the books of the Bank, with 
 an explanation of the purposes for which each is designed, and the name 
 of the clerks to whose care and custody they are respectively committed." 
 This was a step preliminary to the process by which the Committee of 
 Investigation, in the judgment of the majority, could call for, and take
 
 4# f Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 into their possession, by a precept addressed to the clerks in the Bank^ 
 any or all of the books of the institution, in which the business transac- 
 tions of the Bank are entered by the said clerks. This list was furnished 
 by the Committee of the Directors, with the statement, however, that the 
 books were not in the custody of the clerks, but in the general custody 
 of the Board. In consequence of this statement, no attempt was made to 
 obtain possession of the books by a demand of the clerks. 
 
 2. Of a similar character, but more objectionable, because tending more 
 directly to the institution of a general search, and forming an immediate 
 preparation for it, was the right, insisted on by the committee, of an exclu- 
 sive occupation of the room in the banking house, offered by the directors 
 for their accommodation during the inspection of the books. The under- 
 signed refer to the correspondence between the Committee of Investiga- 
 tion and the Committee of the Bank on this subject. They would only 
 briefly observe that a committee of seven had been appointed by the 
 Board of Directors, to receive the Committee of Investigation, and sub- 
 mit for their inspection such books and papers of the Bank as might be 
 necessary to exhibit its proceedings according to the requirement of the 
 charter. A room in the banking house was, by this committee, offered for 
 the accommodation of the Committee of the House of Representatives. It 
 appeared at a very early stage of the proceedings, in a confeience be- 
 tween the two committees, that the Committee of the Directors proposed 
 to exhibit their books in person to the Committee of Investigation, express- 
 ing, at the same time, their expectation and readiness to " withdraw from 
 the room whenever the Committee of the House should see fit," in order to 
 furnish the Committee of the House the opportunity to deliberate, without 
 the presence of any one, not required or invited by themselves to attends 
 This proposed manner of conducting the examination was regarded by 
 the majority of the Committee of the House of Representatives as inad- 
 missible, and formed the subject of a correspondence between them and 
 the Committee of the Directors. The Committee of the House adopted 
 two resolutions, by one of which they agreed that their proceedings should 
 be confidential, unless otherwise ordered by the Committee ; and by the 
 other, that no person should be present at the inspection of the books and 
 examination of the proceedings of the Bank, except those whose attend- 
 ance might be required or permitted by the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 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 matters that might appear in the 
 course of the examination. The undersigned assented to this resolution, 
 with the understanding of the parliamentary law, that the sittings of every 
 committee are open, unless ordered to be secret by the House ; and that 
 it was not in the power of the present committee, by a vote of their own, 
 either to shut their doors, or impose secrecy on any persons who might 
 attend. But they assented to the injunction of confidence in conformity 
 with a usage which has prevailed in other committees of inquiry of the 
 House, for their own convenience, as a rule binding on themselves, 
 and with the express reservation that the adoption of this resolution 
 should, in no degree, involve an assent to the principle asserted in the 
 second. To that principle, viz. that no person should be permitted to 
 attend during the inspection of the books of the Bank, and the examina- 
 tion of its proceedings, whose presence was not required nor assented to
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 45 
 
 by the Board, the undersigned were strenuously opposed. It was asserted 
 as a right on the part of the committee, and (as the undersigned sup- 
 posed, and the Committee of the Directors of the Bank appeared also to 
 understand it,) with an intention to enforce the right. In pursuance of this 
 intention, (as the undersigned supposed,) the Committee of Investiga- 
 tion ceased to hold their meetings in the room set apart for them in the 
 banking house, as soon as they understood the Committee of the Directors 
 of the Bank to claim the right of being there present with their books, 
 during the inspection of the same. It is true that, by a subsequent reso- 
 lution, the Committee of the House of Representatives disclaimed having 
 decided that they should, in point of fact, exclude the directors from the 
 room during the inspection of the books ; but they persevered in the 
 assertion of the right to do so, as appears from the documents appended 
 to this report. 
 
 This claim was regarded, by the undersigned, as being without foun- 
 dation, and objectionable. In the first place, as has been observ- 
 ed, they believed it to be contrary to the lex parliamentaria for a com- 
 mittee of inquiry, on its own authority, to claim the right of holding its 
 sittings, except when deliberating and voting, in secret. It can only be 
 constituted a secret committee, by express order of the House. Second- 
 ly, this principle involved the right of withdrawing the books of the Bank 
 from the custody of the directors, and taking them into the possession of 
 the Committee of Investigation. This is a power not given by the char- 
 ter, which, as far as the books are concerned, authorizes a committee 
 only "to inspect the books." As the right thus reserved by the charter 
 to Congress is not only one of the conditions of an agreement, but is in 
 derogation of the rights and liberties of the citizen, and could not be 
 claimed at common law, and its exercise at best, and under any circum- 
 stances, must be highly incommodious, and create a serious interruption 
 of the business of the Bank, it should be construed rather strictly than 
 liberally, and not draw with it by implication any thing not necessary for 
 its exercise. The entire confidence, which the undersigned feel, in the 
 liberality and magnanimity of their colleagues, so to conduct the inspec- 
 tion, as to cause the least possible inconvenience to the officers of the 
 Bank, could not authorize an acquiescence in a claim of right wholly to 
 obstruct and bring to a stop the ordinary proceedings of the Bank ; ip 
 fact, to suspend the charter. 
 
 It was a claim to take the books out of the possession of the directors 
 into the possession of the committee, to detain them as long as they 
 pleased, to carry them whithersoever fliey pleased, (a right afterwards 
 more distinctly asserted and attempted to be enforced,) and to put them 
 to whatever use the committee, in their uncontrolled discretion, might 
 think proper. The undersigned again repeat, that it derogates in no 
 degree from the objectionable character of this claim to urge, that the 
 books of the Bank, thus taken from the possession of the directors, could 
 have been put to no unworthy use by the Committee of Investigation. 
 Such an idea could only suggest itself to be repudiated. It is sufficient 
 objection, that they would have been put out of the custody of those re- 
 sponsible to the stockholders for their safe keeping. The most improper 
 use to which the books, or any other property of an individual or a cor- 
 poration, can be put, is, to take them away from their rightful owner and 
 lawful guardian. I may think I can take better care of my neighbor's
 
 '^6 [Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 property than he does himself, but I may not therefore take it from him, 
 :ind administer it, even for his own good. Far less may I take it, with- 
 out warrant of law, in order to extract from its unlawful use matter to be 
 used, directly or by consequence, for his crimination. The books be- 
 long to the stockholders of the Bank, and are, by them, entrusted to the 
 directors. They do not belong to the House of Representatives, nor to 
 any committee of that House ; and a right to inspect them no more in- 
 volves a right to take possession of them, than a right to count the money 
 in the vaults involves a right to take possession of it. It is a case of fre- 
 quent occurrence in the State banks, that committees are sent to visit 
 them, and, among other things, to count the specie in their vaults. Should 
 such a committee claim the right of going intothe vaults alone, and count- 
 ing the money, without the presence of the directors of the Bank, or their 
 authorized agents, it would be thought a very unwarrantable claim ; and 
 «o personal confidence, reposed in the honor and probity of the commit- 
 tee, would render such a claim at all the less unwarrantable. 
 
 But the attempt to fortify the right of taking possession of the books, by 
 urging that in its exercise it would not have been abused, wholly fails, 
 in the apprehension of the undersigned, because they deem that the use 
 which was avowedly to be made of them, \fas the greatest possible 
 abuse. It was intended to employ them for the purpose of a general 
 search, not only to ascertain, in the most general form, whether the char- 
 ter of the Bank had been violated, but also what corruptions, abuses, and 
 malpractices had taken place in its management ; and this, by way of 
 inquiry among other things, whether a criminal prosecution, in legal 
 form, should be instituted, (see resolution of Committee of Investigation 
 of 7th of May,) in which prosecution the directors, 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 need but little argument to show that a claim, on the part of 
 a committee of either House of Congress, acting in virtue of the general 
 parliamentary power of inquiry to demand, as a matter of right, the pro- 
 duction, and to take possession of the books and papers belonging to an 
 individual or a corporation, in order to search therein for matter on 
 which to found a criminal procedure against said individual or corpora- 
 don, is a claim at once of the most unfounded and pernicious character^ 
 They confidently believe that no court of justice in the United States, or 
 any other free country, has ever claimed such a power as a right, or at- 
 tempted, in point of fact, to execute it. They have never heard of any 
 statute which gives this power to any court or other tribunal. And they 
 would deem the assumption of such a power, by either House of Con- 
 gress, as an incident of the general powers of the House, and resting on 
 the lex parliamentaria, as unwarrantable, and in the highest degree 
 dangerous. 
 
 3. The committee having withdrawn from the occupation of the roonxi 
 in the banking house for the reason stated, adopted a resolution requiring 
 the President and Directors of the Bank to submit certain of the books 
 of the Bank to the inspection of the committee, at their room in the North 
 American hotel. (See Doc. No. 25.) With this requisition the Com- 
 mittee of the Directors declined complying, for reasons which appear in 
 their resolutions adopted May the 3d. (Document No. 30.) The un-
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 4T 
 
 dersigned regarded this resolution of the committee as open to the objec- 
 tions already urged against an ex parte inspection of the books, and to 
 others peculiar to itself. By its terms, the President and Directors are 
 required to submit certain of their books to the inspection of th.e 
 committee at the North American hotel. If, by the terra required, 
 nothing is to be understood but a request, with which the directors of 
 the Bank were at liberty to decline a compliance, they were of course 
 free so to decline, and their doing so argues no contempt of the House. 
 But the majority of the committee evidently regarded as in some way obli- 
 gatory the demand for the production, at their hotel, of certain of the 
 books of the Bank. Such a demand the subscribers deemed to be un- 
 authorized. If valid, in reference to the books named in the requisi- 
 tion, it was of course valid as to all thp. books of the Bank and all its 
 branches ; which, by parity of right, the committee might have required 
 to be brought to their lodgings, and there detained and used at their 
 pleasure. The question whether (supposing them brought to the com- 
 mittee's room at the North American hotel) they should there be sub- 
 mitted in person by the directors, or inspected ex parte by the Committee 
 of Investigation, was not distinctly raised. But considering that the 
 committee ceased to hold their meetings at the banking house, precisely 
 because the directors insisted on their submitting the books for inspec- 
 tion in person, it appeared to the undersigned that, whether exercised or 
 not, the right of an ex parte inspection was designed to be reserved, and 
 that the inspection was required to be had at the private room of the 
 committee, to enable the committee, if they deemed it expedient, to act 
 on that reservation. All the objections, therefore, which lie to an ex 
 parte inspection in the banking house, hold with equal force to an ex 
 parte inspection out of it. 
 
 In addition to this, the requisition of the books, to be carried away 
 from the banking house, appeared to the undersigned, for other reasons, 
 of an inadmissible character. It was to_^take them away from the place 
 where the important interests of the Bank require them to be, and to be 
 used. It was to expose them to the risks of transportation through the 
 streets, and detention in private rooms, not constructed for the safe pre- 
 servation of valuable papers. While it is the constant practice of indi- 
 viduals to deposite for safe keeping valuable books and papers in the 
 vaults of the Bank, the Bank was required to remove its own books and. 
 papers, containing the evidence of pecuniary transactions to the amount 
 of several hundreds of millions of dollars annually, to the committee's 
 room in the North American hotel, a public house of great resort in Phi- 
 ladelphia. The undersigned opposed this requisition, from the belief 
 that it was totally beyond the authority of the House ; and they should 
 have deeply regretted a compliance with it by the Bank, which Avould 
 have devolved on the committee the care and responsibility of a deposite 
 so delicate and valuable. 
 
 By the 23d section of the charter, whenever a scire facias against the 
 Bank is sued out of the circuit court of Pennsylvania, it shall be " lawful 
 for the court, in examining into the truth of the alleged violation of the 
 charter, to require the ptoduction of such of the books of the Bank as it 
 may deem necessary to the ascertainment of the controverted facts.'* 
 This is the only case in which the contract between the Government and
 
 JftS '[ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 the stockholders authorizes a requisition of the books ; and this cautious 
 authority, granted by law to one of the high judicial tribunals of the 
 country, on an examination into an alleged violation of the charter, to 
 require the production of the books which it may deem necessary to the 
 ascertainment of controverted facts, sufficiently disproves, by exclusion, 
 the grant of any similar or additional power, of the same kind, to any other 
 tribunal. That the House of Representatives, independent of the char- 
 ter, has 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 undersigned cannot bring themselves to admit. At 
 all events, as no authoritative form was given to the requisition, the di- 
 rectors, in respectfully declining to comply, are of course guilty of no 
 contempt of the Housg. 
 
 4. Alter the directors of tlie Bank had declined a compliance with the 
 requisition of Iheir books to be produced at the North American hotel, the 
 Committee of Investigation, on the 5th of May, adopted a resolution (see 
 Document No. 32) that they would repair to the banking Jiouse, at one 
 o'clock of that day, to inspect the books specified in the resolution ^ tiie 
 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 Di- 
 rectors, but reached him at his dwelling-house, at a time when the Com- 
 mittee of the Directors was not in session, and a short time before the 
 liour named in the resolution of the Committee of Investigation. He im- 
 mediately informed the chairman of the Committee of the House by letter, 
 that it would be impracticable to reassemble the Committee of the Direc- 
 tors in season to submit tiie books for inspection that day, but that they 
 would be reassembled without unnecessary delay. The committee, how- 
 over, deemed it expedient, for the purpose of making up an issue, to repair 
 to the banking house at the hour named, and then and there to call on the 
 President ajid Cashier of the Bank to submit certain of their books to the 
 committC'\ This accordingly took place, first in the large hall of the 
 banking house, and then, by repetition, in the President's room. The 
 Piesident and Cashier declined a comjjliauce w ith this request, on the 
 ground that they had, neither of them, the custody of nor control over 
 tiie books and papers ; the general custody of the same being with the 
 Board of Directors, who had already apprised the Committee of the House, 
 that they had placed them under the direction of a committee, to be by that 
 committee submitted for insj)ection, and that they (the President and Cash- 
 ier) were therefore unable to com])ly with the dcinand of the Committee of 
 Investigation. This demand, and the answer to it, were then reduced to 
 writing, and will be found among the papers (Nos. 35, 36) aj)pended to 
 this rej)ort. 
 
 This proceeding was but a repetition, in a form a little varied, of the 
 .attempts before made to acquire the means of conducting the inspection 
 of the books, apart from those to whom the directors had confided the 
 •duty of submitting them to the Committee of the House of Kepresenta- 
 tives. It was avowedly intended only to make up, in another form, the issue 
 which, it was supposed would be created between the Bank and the Com- 
 mittee of Investigation, by the failure of tlie committee to obtain tiie books 
 thus required of the Tresidenl and Cashier. It was known to the Commit- 
 tee of the House tiiat the dircctojs, by an authentic act, of which a co])y 
 liad been communicated, had placed the books at the disposal of the Cora-
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 49 
 
 mittee of the Board, to be by them submitted in person for inspection. The 
 said Committee of the Directors had twice positively made known their in- 
 ability to depart from the instructions of the Board in this respect. The 
 Committee of the House were apprised that the books asked for were not, 
 under the iiistructions of the Board, at the voluntary disposal of the Pre- 
 sident and Cashier, and the demand made of these otficers by the committee 
 in person at the Bank was not of the nature of a legal process to com- 
 pel their production, supposing them to have been de Jado in the keeping 
 of the said officers. For these considerations, the undersigned opposed 
 the personal demand for the production of the books now under considera- 
 tion, as a measure which must, for the reason stated, prove ineiTectual, un- 
 necessary for the making up of the desii-ed issue, and open to the objection 
 of wearing a vexatious appearance. To make a third application for a 
 voluntary submission of tlie books in a manner which, it was known, 
 was deemed inadmissible, at the same time that no recourse was had to 
 compulsory process, could not but have the effect, though certainly not so 
 intended, of gratuitously throwing upon the directors the odium of repeated 
 refusals of the requests of the Coniinittee of the House. However this 
 may be, as the fact is undoubted thai the directors had placed the books 
 under the control of the Committee of the Board ; as their right to do is un- 
 questionable ; as tlie chairman of the Committee of the Directors liad ap- 
 prised the chairman of the Committee of Investigation that the former 
 could not be reassembled at the very short notice given, but should be so, 
 without unnecessary delay, to submit the books for inspection ; as the 
 books were not in point of fact in possession of the (,fficers called on ; the 
 undersigned feel confident tliat, in respectfully declining to produce them, 
 those ofiicers were guilty of no contempt of the authority of the House. 
 
 5. But whatever difference of opinion might at the first have existed 
 between the Committee oftl)e House and the Committee of the Directors as 
 to the propriety of permitting the latter to retain the custody oftlic books, 
 and submit them in person to the Committee of the House, further consi- 
 deration appears to have led the Committee of the House to admit the rea- 
 sonableness of this mode of conducting the investigation, so far at least 
 as to acquiesce in it, — a consideration, which exonerates tlie directors from 
 any charge of contempt in the course hitiierto pursued by them. Accord- 
 ingly, without waiving their riglit to require the production of the books 
 at their lodgings, they repaired again to the banking house, to the room set 
 apart for their accommodation, and required the production of certain of 
 the books of the Bank. 
 
 It will be observed that, up to this time, nothing had been arranged as 
 to the mode of conducting the inspection beyond the single point, settled 
 by the acquiescence of the Committee of tlic House of Representatives, 
 that the books should be submitted in person by the Committee of the 
 Directors. No objects of inquiry had been announced by the Committee of 
 Investigation, furtlicr than they appear in the resolution of the House under 
 which the committee was raised, and in the calls made for information, as 
 to a great amoimt and vai-iety of matters, as appears from the resolutions 
 in the appendix. The correspondence whicli had taken place between tijc 
 committees, had been confined almost, exclnsivelv to the sinsrie at-ound of 
 the course deemed proper to be pursued by tlie committee, to obtain posses- 
 sion of the books of the Bank. 
 
 On the arrival of the committee at the banking house on tlie Tth of May, 
 7
 
 50 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 a call was made on the Committee of the Board, in pursuance of the fol- 
 lowing resolution : 
 
 May 7, 1834. 
 
 Resolved, That the committee will proceed to examine into the truth of 
 the statement made hy the Government directors to the President of the 
 United States and to Congress, and for that purpose will this day call for 
 the production, for inspection, of the minute hooks containing the proceed- 
 ings of the directors of the Bank, and the expense hooks and vouchers for 
 expenses incurred. 
 
 As preliminary to a reply to this demand, the following paper was read 
 by the chairman of the Committee of the Board : 
 
 May 7, 1834. 
 
 Whereas it appears, from the resolution of the House of Representatives 
 of the United States, appointing the Committee of Investigation, that two 
 distinct inquiries were contemplated, one of them directed to ascertain 
 whether the charter had heen violated, and limited to the acts of the cor- 
 poration ; and the other so very general and indefinite, as to make it 
 diflBcult, if not impossihle, to say whether it has any limits at all, either 
 as to the matters to be inquired into, or the mode of pursuing the inquiry ; 
 and whereas it appears, from calls made by the Committee of Investiga- 
 tion, that (hey have proposed a very wide range, embracing, among other 
 things, an extensive examination of the acts, transactions, accounts, and 
 letters of individuals, and thus instituting a kind of general search, which 
 is the more objectionable, because, if it have any purpose at all, it must be 
 to criminate those individuals, as well as the Bank, and if it have not this 
 purpose, it is without any assignable object, and would be an injurious 
 invasion of private interests ; and whereas, under these circumstances, it 
 is the duty of the committee, by all lawful means, to protect the rights and 
 sacred confidence entrusted to their keeping, and to yield nothing by con- 
 sent which cannot be legally demanded from them ; and whereas, after 
 careful and anxious consideration, they are of opinion that the inquiry 
 can only be rightfully extended to alleged violations of the charter, and 
 this inquiry ought to be conducted according to some certain principles 
 and rules : therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee of Investigation be respectfully required, 
 when they ask for books and papers, to state specifically, in writing, the 
 purposes for which they are proposed to be inspected, and, if it be to esta- 
 blish a violation of the charter, then to state specifically, in writing, what 
 are the alleged or supposed violations of charter to which the evidence is 
 alleged, or supposed to be applicable. 
 
 Resolved, That, in the opinion of this committee, it would very much 
 conduce to the purposes of justice, as well as to the convenience of all con- 
 cerned, if the Committee of Investigation would furnish a specification of 
 all the charges intended to be inquired into, and proceed with them in 
 order as stated. 
 
 The undersigned opposed the call, above recited, made on the Tth May, 
 for the production of books. They feel themselves, therefore, called upon
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. I 51 
 
 to explain briefly the considerations which influenced them. The under- 
 signed have already stated that they conceived the committee, of which 
 tliey have the honor to be members, to be clothed with a twofold power, 
 and to be competent, or rather required, by tiie order of the House, to act 
 in a twofold capacity. They were a committee of visitation, appointed 
 nnder the twenty-third section of the charter. As such they were autho- 
 rized to visit the Bank, to inspect the books, and to examine into the pro- 
 ceedings of the Bank, and report wliether the charter had been violated. 
 Tiiey were, also, a committee of inquiry into the causes of the present 
 commercial embarrassment and pecuniary distress, and into the corrup- 
 tions, abuses, and malpractices of the Bank. In the former capacity, they 
 had a right to inspect the books of the Bank. They had this right by the 
 charter, and would not have had it without the charter. In the latter 
 capacity, they had no right to insjiectthe books unless voluntarily submit- 
 ted by the Bank, because the charter does not give them that right for such 
 purposes. The Bank is obliged, by the charter, to submit its books to the 
 inspection of a committee of visitation, authorized to report if the char- 
 ter has been violated ; and it is not bound to submit them to a committee 
 of general inquest authorized to report on malpractices and corruptions. 
 The right of inspection possessed by the committee, as a committee of visi- 
 tation, cannot be used by it in its other capacity of a committee of general 
 inquest and accusation, as an instrument of search after crimes and mis- 
 demeanors in general. 
 
 But the directors of the Bank had been apprised at the outset, by the 
 resolution of the House of Representatives of the 4th of April, thfit the 
 committee was of a twofold character, as stated. Tiiat resolution dis- 
 tinctly enumerates, as objects of inquiry, not only violations of the char- 
 ter, for which the books might be inspected, but various acts of misman- 
 agement and corruption, for which they might not be inspected unless 
 voluntarily offered for that purpose. The Committee of Investigation had 
 addressed various calls, by way of resolution, to the Committee of the Di- 
 rectors, touching matters concerning which the charter does not require 
 iUe Bank to submit its books for inspection. The call of the 7th of May, 
 on the last visit to the banking house, is for certain of the books of the 
 Bank, to enable tlie committee '♦ to examine into the truth of the statement 
 made by the Government directors to the President of the United States 
 and to Congress." That statement embraces matters which neither are, 
 nor are alleged to be, violations of the charter, and consequently in refer- 
 ence to which the directors are not required lo submit their books for in- 
 spection. 
 
 Had it pleased the House of Representatives to create two committees, 
 one of visitation, under the twenty-third section of the charter, and one of 
 general inquiry, under the power of the House to send for persons and 
 papers, these two committees would not have been authorized to anjalga- 
 matc nor interchange each other's functions. The committee of charter 
 visitation would not have been authorized to engage in a general inquisi- 
 tion, nor would the committee of inquiry have been authorized to demand 
 the books for inspection. 
 
 But to what avail lias the charter limited the objects for which the hooks 
 may be inspected, and jjrotectcd the corporation, and those who transact 
 business with it, from the annoyance and mischiefs of a general search, if
 
 §2 I Uep. No. 481. J 
 
 a committee of visitation may be clothed with the functions of a commit- 
 tee of general inquiry, and having got the books into their hands for one 
 purpose authorized by the law, may use tiiem for another purp.ise not au- 
 tiiorized by law ? It is plain that if this could be done, the limitation of 
 the right of inspection would be illus(u-y and wortliless. In order to ren- 
 der the limitation efficient, the Committee of the Directors required of the 
 Committeeof Investigation to specify the objects for which they demanded 
 the books. For some objects the demand of the books was according to 
 law; for other objects, not being bound by law to yield them, the direc- 
 tors were at liberty to withliold them, or to submit them, according to their 
 discretion. They, therefore, needed a specification, to enable them to dis- 
 charge tlicir duty under the charter, as well as to protect them in their 
 rights; to enable them to distinguish, in the requisitions of the Committee 
 of Investigation, how much was authoritative, under the statute command- 
 ing obedience ; and how much, not being authoritative, they were at liberty 
 to concede or to withhold. 
 
 There was the more reason in insisting on this right to make the limi- 
 tation on the inspection of their books available, because, as has heretofore 
 been observed, the inspection itself is in derogation of the natural rights of 
 the citizen, who ought not, under any circumstances, to be obliged to crimi- 
 nate himself. It pleased the Legislature, regarding the corporation as their 
 own legal creation, to require tliem, when accused of violating the funda- 
 mental laws of their existence — the provisions of the charter — to submit 
 their books to a committee authorized to report on that fact alone. But 
 to transfer this limited right of inspection to other committees for general 
 powers of inquisition, and for a general purpose of enforcing self-crimi- 
 nation, is illegal and inequitable. To do this by indirection ; to clothe a 
 committee of inquiry with the powers of a committee of visitation, and 
 thus to acquire a right to open the books for one object, and then to in- 
 spect them for another, would be to attempt to accomplish an end in itself 
 unauthorized, by means peculiarly unwarrantable. 
 
 For these considerations the undersigned regarded the directors as jus- 
 tified in requiring of the committee of the House a specification of the ob- 
 jects of their inquiry. The gi-ound taken by the Committeeof the Board is, 
 as the House perceives, a ground of legal right, assumed by the directors, 
 under the circumstances of the case. This is the third occasion on which 
 the Bank has been visited by committees of the House. In the year 1818, 
 a committee was appointed to examine the affairs of the Bank, then in dis- 
 order. The committee thus appointed was, by the terms of the resolution, 
 directed to report %\hether the charter had been violated, and the resolu- 
 tion consisted mainly of a specification of alleged violations. In execut- 
 ing their trust, however, the committee extended their inquiries to the 
 general management of the Bank, anrl examined its Piesident, other offi- 
 cers, and directors, on oath. To this course of inquiry, the Bank deemed 
 it for its interest to submit. The undersigned are not aware that any 
 resistance was made to the demands of the committee. On the contrary, 
 their report closes with the observation, that " it is due to the officers of 
 the Bank at Piiiladelphia to state that Q\cvy facility in their power was 
 i"endered in ex{)laining the books and assisting the researches of the com- 
 mittee." In one instance, in which an individual, a director of one of the 
 offices, charged with malpractices, refused to testify, the committee ob-
 
 r Rep. No. 481. ] 53 
 
 serve, that they did not insist on his answering, and tliat they examined 
 him ciiiefly to enable him, if he pleased, to exculpate iiimself. Tliis com- 
 mittee did not confine their examinations to the officers of the Bank. 
 They examined the Teller of tlie Bank of North America, and perhaps 
 other persons. This circumstance, and the others mentioned, sufliciently 
 show that no question as to the extent of the powers of the committee was 
 raised during the visitation ; that the witnesses appeared voluntarily ; that 
 the Bank deemed it lor its interest to submit to the examination of the 
 committee, in any form in which the committee thought projjcr to conduct 
 it; and that consequently the whole investigation assumed the form of a 
 parliamentary inquiry, conducted by the assent of the parties, and without 
 any appeal to their rights. 
 
 The examination of 1832 assumed substantially the same character. 
 Tiie resolution, under which the committee was raised, consisted, as origi- 
 nally moved, of a large detail of alleged abuses, several of which import- 
 ed no violation of the charter. The House adopted an amendment pro- 
 posed to this resolution by a member from Massachusetts, (Mr. Adams,) 
 in the following terms: '' Resolved, That a select committee be appointed, 
 to inspect the books, and examine into the proceedings of the Bank, and re- 
 port thereon, and to report whether the provisions of the charter have been 
 violated or not." I'his phraseology appears to have been derived from 
 the commencing words of the report of the committee of 1818, which is in 
 the same terms, and not from tlie resolution by which that committee was 
 created, and which provides that a select committee be ai)pointed, ''to in- 
 spect the books, and examine into the proceedings of the Bank, and report 
 whether the provisions of its cliarter have been violated or not, and parti- 
 cularly to report" as to several matters, all, or nearly all, of which 
 were alleged violations of the charter. The amendment offered by the 
 member from Massachusetts, (Mr. Adams,) and adopted by the House, was 
 offered on the ground that " tlic oiiginal resolution presented objects of 
 inquiry not authorized by tiic cliarter of tlie Bank, nor within the legiti- 
 mate powers of the House." But as it directed the committee to report 
 generally on the inoceedings of the Bank, as well as on violations of the 
 charter, it was considered by its mover, and by many of those w ho sup- 
 jiorted the amendment, as authorizing an inquiry extending beyond viola- 
 tions of the charter. The riglit to constitute an inquiry of this kind was 
 put upon the ground that the Bank was ajiplying for a recharter, and 
 could not reasonably decline it. At that time, as in 1818, neither House 
 of Congress had assumed a hostile position to the Bank. Its directors, as 
 the event jiroved, felt that they could rely upon the National Legislature 
 to do them justice against any efforts which might be made to impeach 
 their character, or arraign their conduct. A])])licants for a recharter, 
 they felt that they could not with propriety object to any latitude of inqui- 
 ry which might be demanded by a House of Congress willing to grant a 
 recharter, provided the result of the examination should be satisfactory. 
 Accordingly, the resolution, as amended, was understood to extend, not 
 merely to alleged violations of the charter, but to all alleged cases of offi- 
 cial misconduct ; and on the ai-rival of the committee in Philadelphia, the 
 directors of the Bank, instead of jilacing themselves upon their rights, or- 
 <lered the President of the institution to submit all its books and papers to 
 the unconditional inspection of the cojnmitlec, and to yield hknself to an
 
 54 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 unreserved examination. The inquiry was pushed into every matter oC 
 alleged abuse, where it was supposed the Bank was most vulnerable. No- 
 thing was spared ; nothing was held back. Books and papers were sub- 
 mitted, and personal examinations on oath endured, although avowedly 
 for the purpose of finding out, if it existed, matter of inculpation against the 
 directors. The materials thus collected were spread before Congress and 
 the people, and a majority of both Houses of Congress united in the pas- 
 sage of a bill for rechartering the Bank. 
 
 The President declined giving effect to the will of Congress, and the bill 
 failed to become a law. The whole influence of the Executive was exerted 
 to the prejudice of the institution, and the voice of the administration 
 press was raised against it, with a concert and vehemence rarely equalled. 
 
 Doubts of the safety of the public deposites were now suggested, and 
 these doubts received some sanction from the message of the President at 
 the opening of the second session of the last Congress. An Executive 
 agent was appointed to investigate that subject, and the Committee of 
 "Ways and Means, of which a majority was composed of members friendly 
 to the administration, engaged in the same inquiry. The agent and the 
 committee reported in favor of the solvency of the Bank, and the House of 
 Representatives, by a majority unexampled on such a question, resolved that 
 the public deposites could be safely continued in the Bank of the United 
 States. 
 
 Notwithstanding this vote, the President took immediate measures to 
 transfer the deposites to the State banks. The character of these mea- 
 sures is known to the House. The undersigned tliink themselves safe in 
 saying that it was such as to cause the directors of the Bank the greatest 
 possible inconvenience and anxiety. They were regarded as men guilty 
 of the most criminal malpractices, and justly obnoxious to the severest 
 treatment which it was in the power of the Executive to inflict. To all 
 that was oflicially done, was superadded an unbroken strain of denuncia- 
 tion from the Government press, and threats of a purpose to break those 
 branches of the Bank which were supposed to be feeble. At length, 
 without previous authentic notice, the deposites were removed, a short 
 time before the assembling of Congress. A majority of members had 
 been elected to the House of Representatives, in part previous to the 
 adoption of this measure, wlio appeared disposed to sustain the President in 
 the policy he had adopted. By this majority resolutions were passed ex- 
 pressive of their opinion that the Bank ought not to be rechartered, and 
 that the deposites ought not to be restored. These resolutions were adopted 
 after a protracted debate on the general merits of the controversy, in 
 ■which, on the part of those who sustained the President, the most unwar- 
 rantable designs and the most corrupt ])ractices were freely ascribed to 
 those entrusted with the direction of the Bank. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that the commission of inquiry into 
 the affairs of the Bank was instituted. As far as that inquiry was of a 
 character in which the Bank was, by the charter, bound to co-operate, by 
 submitting its books for inspection, the directoi-s have fully recognised their 
 obligation to do so ; but the undersigned confess they perceive nothing in* 
 the circumstances that pi'eceded tlie inquiry which could furnish an induce- 
 ment to the Bank to go further than the law requires of them. By the 
 Executive Go^vernment, and the majority of the House of Congress, their-
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 55 
 
 case had been adjudged. The laws which the wisdom of two former Con- 
 gresses enacted for erecting United States' Banks, and of which every de- 
 partment of the Government, under every administration but the present, 
 has recognised the validity, have been declared unconstitutional. The 
 present inquiry was not needed to ascertain if the deposites should be 
 removed ; they were removed many months before. It was not needed to 
 ascertain whether they could safely be restored j the House that institutes 
 it has resolved that they ought not to be restored. The Secretary of the 
 Treasury is left, without the instructions of the House, to deposite the pub- 
 lic funds in any other bank he may please to select, but the House of Re- 
 presentatives has resolved that they ought not to be deposited in the Bank 
 of the United States. Although the last Congress, by majorities of both 
 Houses, decided that the Bank ought to be rechartered, and the next Con- 
 gress may be of the same opinion, the present House of Representatives 
 has resolved to the contrary, and, therefore, the inquiry was not needed 
 to guide its judgment in the recharter of the Bank. Various misdemean- 
 ors are imputed to those who direct the Bank ; but supposing their detec- 
 tion the object of the investigation, every principle of justice forbids a mode 
 of inquiry, beginning and proceeding in self-crimination. The only other 
 legitimate object which the undersigned can think of, is that of collecting 
 information to guide the judgment of the House in the question of a new bank, 
 to be established on the ruins of the present institution. The directors of 
 the Bank, in the opinion of the subscribers, may be safely expected, on all 
 occasions, to do the duty of public spirited men to their country : but no 
 principle of public duty fairly calls upon them to go further than the law 
 requires them, in making themselves the subjects of a criminatory inquisi- 
 tion, with a view to build up an institution to discharge that public trust to 
 which they have been declared unfaithful, by those instituting the inquiry 
 
 It is also to be recollected that two years had scarcely elapsed since the 
 former inquiry, on which the directors of the Bank had not attempted to 
 impose any limitations ; and that inquiry had resulted so entirely to the 
 satisfaction of the two Houses, that they passed a bill for renewing the 
 charter of the Bank. It requires no words to show that such an examina- 
 tion must be highly inconvenient to the officers of the Bank, and incom- 
 mode them in the orderly discharge of their duties. Still- graver incon- 
 venience may be expected to result from the effect on the public mind, in 
 reference to the Bank, which may be produced by the recurrence of such 
 visitations. In the progress of the controversy waged with the Bank, a few 
 new matters of detail may perhaps have been alleged against it since the 
 report of the former committee, but many of the matters of general incul- 
 pation now brought forward are those sifted to the bottom by that commit- 
 tee, and none of them possess a novelty and importance furnishing, in the 
 judgment of the undersigned, an equitable ground for a new investigation. 
 Is there to be no end to visitations ? The House has the undoubted right 
 to institute them as often as it pleases — every year, and every month ; but 
 if they are multiplied unreasonably, the directors of the Bank, as it seems 
 to the undersigned, ai-e not to be blamed if at length they put themselves 
 upon their rights, decline to become voluntary parties to these investiga- 
 tions, and submit to them only as far as the charter requires. 
 
 These considerations led the undersigned to the opinion that the Com- 
 mittee of the Directors of the Bank were justified in the course adopted by
 
 56 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 them on this occasion. If, on a question of law so grave and delicate, the 
 Committee of the Directors should Ijave come to an erroneous conclusion, 
 (which the undersigned, however, do not admit to be the case,) it would 
 seem an undue severity to consider and to treat such error in judgment as 
 acontempt of the autliority of the House. 
 
 6. This reflection leads the undersigned to a few observations on the 
 various calls for copies or ])ortions of the books, statements, documents, 
 abstracts, and other pa])ers. wliich, at diflerent times, were made on the 
 Bank by resolutions of the committee. These resolutions were numerrtus, 
 and covered a wide range of inquiry of the most miscellaneous character. 
 A portion of tiicm aie believed to call for documents, in whole or in part, 
 ali'eady communicated to Congress, and published ; another portion re- 
 lating to matters which could not be stated without great labor of compi- 
 lation, and a resort to sources of knowledge not necessarily nor officially 
 in the possession of the Bank. Some of the calls referred to matters with 
 respect to which no desire of concealment could, on any hypothesis, be im- 
 j)utcd to the Bank ; others related to concerns (as the undersigned will 
 presently show) involving the highest confidence of individuals, and not 
 to be divulged, except under legal compulsion, without the grossest breach 
 of faith. 
 
 The answer of the Committee of the Directors to these requisitions was 
 in the following terms : 
 
 Eesolred, Tliat the Board do not, feel themselves at liberty to comply 
 ^vith the requirement of the resolutions of the Committee of Investigation 
 of the 29th ult. and 1st inst, and do not think they are bound to do so, 
 inasmuch as, in respect to a part of the papers called for, the effect would 
 be the same as the surrender of their books and papers to a secret and ex 
 /)arfe examination, which they have already refused to consent to ; and as 
 to the other part, they relate to matters over which the Buard have no 
 control ; and if they could overcome these objections, and had the power 
 over all the papers, still it would be impossible for them to comply within 
 any reasonable time, having ascertained, by a careful examination, that 
 the copies and statements called for by the resolutions of the 29th ultimo, 
 'alone, would i-equire the unintejrupted labor of two clerks for at least ten 
 months, to make tiiem out, and that tiiei-emaining resolutions, so far as they 
 concern matters not beyond the reach of the Board, would require great 
 additional time, which they are not able exactly to compute, without caus- 
 ing, what they feai', would be an inccmyenient delay to the Committee of 
 Investigation ; and they take it for granted that it would no more comport 
 W'ith the views of the Committee of Investigation to wait till so distant a 
 period, than it would with the ^rights of the Bank, to have such a burden 
 imposed upon it. 
 
 If the application of the Committee of the House be regarded, according 
 to its terms, as a mere request, it was of course competent to the directors 
 respectfully to decline a compliance witi) it. It can be n.) contemj>t of 
 of the House, nor even matter of complaint or ground of prejudice, that 
 any request, which is merely such, is respectfully declined by the party 
 to which it is addressed. But the Comn>ittee of the Directors appear to 
 liave regai-ded it as a matter of duty, not to return a naked refusal to the 
 requisition of the Committee of luvestigaticni. The reasons of this refusal 
 are stated, and they appear to tlie undersigned to be valid. Reference to 
 the resolutions in the appendix will enable the House to judge of this mat-
 
 f Rep. No. 481. J 57 
 
 ter. The reasons, as has been seen, are, that to comply with a part of 
 these resolutions would be, in effect, to copy or abstract an essential part 
 of some of the books of the Bank, in order to their being made the subjects 
 of a private and ex parte examination ; a measure so mucli the more ob- 
 jectionable, as it would add the inconvenience of preparing the co])y to all 
 the other evils incident to such inspection. Another portion of the calls 
 relateti to matters of fact, in no way appearing on the books of the Bank, 
 and not to be ascertained but from sources of information no moi-e accessi- 
 ble to the directors than to any other individual. These objections were 
 of themselves, pa!-ticularly the first, decisive. In addition to this, it ap- 
 peai-ed, from a careful examination instituted for that purpose, that the 
 ansv^ers to the first series of calls could not be prepared without the unin- 
 terrupted labor of two clerks for at least ten months. 
 
 Tlie undersigned are unwilling to take up the time of the House by a 
 particular examination of each of tije resolutions, but they feel themselves 
 required to express their opinion of a poition of them. They will refer 
 first to those which call for information touching the transactions of mem- 
 bers of Congress with the Bank of the United States, and tiie correspond- 
 ence of members of Congress with officers of the Bank. 
 
 One of the resolutions alluded to is in the following terms : "Resolved, 
 That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to furnish the com- 
 mittee with copies of all correspondence between the President of the Bank or 
 any of its officers and members of Congress, or of unanswered letters re- 
 ceived from any one of them since the fust day of July, 1832, touching 
 the renewal of the charter of the Bank, the removal or restoration of the 
 public deposites, or touching the business transactions of such members 
 with said banks." 
 
 Another of the resolutions alluded to is in the follow ing terms : 
 
 *^ Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank he requested 
 to furnish this committee with a detailed statement of all loans made since 
 the 1st of January, 1829, to individuals, who then were, who have been 
 since, and who now are, members of Congress, stating the amount of each 
 loan, when the same was made, for what term the security was given, and 
 the time when such security was received ; and also the security which the 
 Bank now holds, and the amount now ow ing by any and eacii of such bor- 
 rowers, or other j)erson for the benefit of such boirowers, at the Bank, or 
 either of the branches ; and stating, also, the particulars of any such loans 
 which have been protested, or w hich are now under protest, and the names 
 of the parties to any such debts; also, the names (if any) of any such 
 ])ersons, whose notes have been renewed after the same had become 
 due and not j)rotested or renewed, with the names of individuals, par- 
 ties to said renewals, whose notes were under pi'otest at the time such 
 renewals were made ; and, also, whether such loans in each case were 
 made by the directors or otherwise, and by what authority." 
 
 The undersigned suj)posc it imj)ossible to mistake the general purport of 
 calls like theso, Fi'oin their minuteness (>f specification, they may be 
 supposed to aim at paiiicular individuals. Of any such reference the un- 
 dersigned are without accurate knowledge; and nothing is further from 
 their design than to impute to their i-espected colleagues the pursuit of any 
 unparliametitary or improper ol)ject. They cheeifully concede to them 
 what they claim for themselves, to have acted with a single eye to public 
 8
 
 58 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 duty, in their apprehension of it. But the undersigned are free to confess, 
 that they regard the undeniable purport of resolutions like those repeated as 
 highly objectionable. They seem to them to convey a general insinuation 
 out of place, above the region of the partisan press. The charge suggested 
 is that of bribery and corruption so common as to authorize a general 
 search. Tliis is a crime unquestionably, which may, if sufficient grounds 
 exist, be rightfully charged on any director of the Bank, or member of 
 Congress ; but which the undersigned regard as far too serious to be thus 
 charged, without such strong grounds of presumption. It is true that it 
 might seem gratuitous, in the undersigned, to be over forward in repel- 
 ling such a charge. In the existing division of parties, they and their 
 political friends are not found on that side of the House, which it was ne- 
 cessary for the Bank to buy or bribe. The honorable and high-minded 
 men who compose the majority in the House, politically attached to the 
 administration, and opposed to the Bank, do not need the aid of the under- 
 signed, to show the injustice of a general imputation upon their characters. 
 But something unquestionably is due to the general reputation of the two 
 Houses of Congress. If individuals are, on clear grounds, suspected of 
 being thus corrupted ; if the Bank, on reasonable grounds, is suspected of 
 this highest breach of privilege, let tlie individuals criminated be named; 
 the charge be stated in form ; the culprit brought to tlie bar of the House ; 
 and the guilty punished. But let not the wliole body of both Houses be in- 
 volved in one indiscriminate and odious, because vague and anonymous 
 delation. 
 
 As for the call for the correspondence of all members of Congress w itii 
 the Bank for the last two years, and particularly for copies of all unan- 
 swered letters, the undersigned could not but regard It with painful feel- 
 ings. Public life, already sufficiently discredited by the fierceness of par- 
 ty warfare, will cease to be a pursuit for those who have not lost all taste 
 for the social charities, if the sanctuary of private intercourse and pri- 
 vate corresjjondence is to be invaded at pleasure, and every letter, answered 
 or unanswered, which may have been written by an individual who has 
 the misfortune to be a member of Congress, (for a great misfortune under 
 such circumstances it would be,) is subject to be brought up by the drag- 
 net of a general search. It was declared by Mr. Dunning, in the famous 
 case of Money and others against Leach, that *' to ransack private studies, 
 in order to search for evidence, and even without a previous charge on oath, 
 is contrary to natural justice, as well as to tlie liberty of the subject. To 
 search a man's private papers ad libitum, and even without accusation, is 
 an infringement of the natural rights of mankind." (3 Bur. 1762.) It 
 was not the least detestable of the cruel violations of justice and law which 
 brought Sidney to the block, that he jjerished in consequence of the dis- 
 covery of a manuscript political treatise, brought to light by a general 
 search among the papers in his cabinet. The undersigned perceive no more 
 right in a Committee of this House to call for the letters which may have 
 been written by a member of Congress to an officer of the Bank, on the 
 subject of a renewal of the charter, than to call for his letters to any other 
 person on any other subject. Undoubtedly it is conceivable that such a 
 letter might become legal evidence, in a process of attachment, for breach 
 of privilege, and in that case might be called for and used. So might any 
 letter in any criminal cause. It is conceivable that a man's letter to his 
 wife or child might become legal evidence in a capital trial ; and in tiiat 
 case, if it were in the possession of a third person, the court would com-
 
 L Rep. No. 481. J 5^ 
 
 pel its produGtion. But the undersigned are of opinion that a generat 
 warrant to compel the production of all the letters wliich may liave been 
 writtenbyaclassofindividualsfortwo years, in order toasearchof the same, 
 with a view to the institution of a criminal prosecution against the writers 
 or receivers, is now for the first time attempted to be made, in virtue of the 
 authority of a parliamentary body. 
 
 It is one of the infirmities of our nature, that, in the ardent pursuit of 
 ends, which, as individuals or members of a party, we think justifiable, we 
 sometimes go far beyond the line of justice, as we should understand it in 
 our own case. To those who, in the ardor of a protracted controversy, 
 have become wrought up to the belief that the Bank and all its otfices are 
 one great engine of corruption, and those who have defended its chartered 
 rights and maintained its usefulness, in and out of Congress, a band of 
 mercenary stipendiaries, it may seem a very just and proper demand that 
 the confidence of their private intercourse should be violated, their busi- 
 ness transactions stigmatized with corruption before the world, and their 
 private correspondence spread on the journals of a Committee of the House, 
 and, at their discretion, sent to the newspapers. But if, pausing a moment 
 in the career of party, they will make the case their own ; suppose tliem- 
 selves at the mercy of those now in the minority, wielding against them 
 the entire authority of the House, sending its committees to unlock their 
 closets, and requiring the production of every letter they may have writ- 
 ten on public affairs for years, they will probably form a new conception 
 of the light in which the calls now under consideration are regarded by 
 those against whom they were aimed, if any such there be. 
 
 The undersigned would make a reflection somewhat similar, in refer- 
 ence to the call for the amount of fees paid to counsel for legal advice 
 given to the Bank, and the accommodations received at the Bank, by edi- 
 tors and publishers of newspapers and periodical works. It will not be 
 denied that there is an imputation of corrujjtion in calls like these; for it 
 cannot be pretended that, mei-ely as a part of the business transactions of 
 the Bank, the sums which would fall under these heads, in any estimate, 
 however extravagant, of their amount, could be of any interest to Con- 
 gress. Why then are they singled out ? There is, of course, in collecting 
 the vast amount of debt constantly falling due to the Bank, and in carry- 
 ing on its large concerns, continual need of legal advice and professional 
 service. Is it disreputable to seek this advice and service, and, having 
 received them, to pay for them ? Is the ])rofession of the law fairly ob- 
 noxious to the stigma, which the resolution implies, on those of its mem- 
 bers who transact the business of the Bank ? Are mere partisan insinu- 
 ations, fabricated with all the levity and cruelty of an unscrupulous press, 
 sutRcient ground for the virtual denunciation and proscription of a whole 
 profession ? The undersigned forbear to insist on the protection which 
 the law gives to the intercourse of lawyer and client, aiid which, they be- 
 lieve, would protect the Bank from this search into the relations which 
 exist between it and counsel employed in transacting its business. 
 
 Nor do the undersigned think the profession of editors and publishers, of 
 right, more obnoxious to the ini[)utation of cori'uption, on the ground of 
 business transactions with the Bank. The nature of their business re- 
 quires bank accommodation as much as any other. The undersigned 
 do not perceive that they are more likely than any other class of citizens 
 to be corruptly influenced by the accommodations they receive. If they 
 were, it is doubtful, as matter of fact, whether, with an exclusive eye to
 
 60 [ Rep. No. 48t. ] 
 
 the accommodations afforded by all the banks in the country, and to the 
 influences under which they are dispensed, it would be a better calculation, 
 at the present day, to defend or to attack the Bank of the United States. 
 One thing is certain, that the editor who defends the Bank of the United 
 States, may be consideied fiee fiom the suspicion of having an eye to po- 
 litical patrofiage, a source of corruption, when abused, aspoweriul, to say 
 the least, as the favor of a mere moneyed institution. 
 
 7. But the undersigned hasten to exj)ress theii* views on the last step 
 which was taken by the committee towards the disciiaige of their duty ; 
 in many respects, the most important of all. On the 9th day of May, a 
 copy of a process, someN^hat of the chaiacter of a subpana duces tecum, 
 and which may be seen in the appendix, No. 47, addressed to B. S. Bon- 
 sall. marslial of the eastern district of Pennsylvania, was served upon 
 Nicholas Biddle, President, Emanuel [Manuel] Eyre, Matthew Newkirk, 
 John Sergeant, Charles Chauncey, John S. Henry, John R. Neff, Ambrose 
 White, Daniel W. Coxe, John Goddard, James C. Fisher, Lawrence 
 Lewis, John Holmes, and William Piatt, directors of the Bank of the 
 United States, commanding the said Bonsall to summon them to be and 
 appear before the Committee of the House of Representatives of the United 
 States, appointed on the 4th day of April, 1834, in their chamber in the 
 North American hotel, in the city of Philadelphia, and to bring with 
 tliem the credit books of said Bank, on the lOth day of May instant, at 
 the hour of 12 M., then and there to testify touching the matters enume- 
 rated in the said resolution, and to submit said books to said committee for 
 inspection. 
 
 The undersigned entertained, and still entertain, great doubts of the 
 legality of this process. The inquiry alluded to in the process is, among 
 other things, into "the abuses, coi-ruptions, and malpractices of the Bank," 
 that is, the crimes and misdemeanors of its officers and directors ; and the 
 process just recited is intended to be a summons to a majority of the di- 
 rectors and the chief officer of the Bank to appear and testify, as indivi- 
 duals, to the matters of that inquiry ; that is, to their own ciimcs and mis- 
 demeanors, with a view, as the resolution of the committee expressed it, 
 of inquiring "whether such prosecution [viz. a criminal prosecution] 
 should be instituted." The undersigned have already argued at length, 
 and attempted to show, that the power reserved in the charter, of sending 
 a committee to inspect the books and examine the ])rocec(lings of the Bank, 
 and report whether its charter liad been violated, conferred no right of 
 compelling the production of the books out of the Bank, and the appear- 
 ance ofthe directors, to submit to an examination on oath as to their innocence 
 or guilt, of the unspecified ciimes and misdemeanors laid to their charge. 
 In like manner the undersigned have expressed their decided conviction 
 that tiie general power of inquiry possessed by the House can have no 
 riglitfiil extension to a case like this. It follows, by necessary conse- 
 quence, that no process, having for its object to compel the directors to 
 appear bcfoie the committee, and bring with them the books of the Bank 
 to be inspected, and to testify touching the matters of such an inquiry, 
 could be legal. The object of the process was unauthorized by law. 
 
 Incident to this fatal objection to the ])rocess, is another not less so. A 
 subpoena duces tecum is a process, not issuing to the party criminated or 
 implicated in the trial, or interested in the suit, but to a third person to 
 appear and bring with him any paper in his possession, which may be law-
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 61 
 
 fully used as evidence in the trial or suit, without prejudice to the person 
 summoned, or his title. The process of the committee was intended to be 
 addressed to tliose whose abuses, corruptions, and malpractices were the 
 subjects of inquiry ; and the book, tiiey were ordered to bring with them, 
 was to be used in their own crimination. 
 
 The form of the process, and its mode of service, are believed by the un- 
 dersigned to be not less objectionable than its object, and equally fatal to its 
 legal character ; but on this topic they omit to dwell. 
 
 Notwithstanding the strong objections to its legality, the persons to 
 whom it was addressed, individuals unsurpassed for probity, intelligence, 
 and weight of character in the community, treating it with the respect due 
 to the House of Representatives, obeyed its call, and appeared before the 
 committee at their chamber in the North American hotel. Their answer 
 to the summons was communicated in writing, and appears among the do- 
 cuments as paper No. 48. 'I'hey state therein that they do not produce 
 the books of the Bank, because they are not in the custody of eitiier of 
 them, but in that of the Board of Directors. By the Board, it will be re« 
 collected, the books had been confided to a committee of their number, to 
 be by them submitted to the Committee of Investigation. If it were the 
 purpose of the Committee of the House to address their process to tiie party 
 having the actual possession of the books, it would seem that the Committee 
 of the Directors was that party delegated by the Board, and recognised 
 throughout the transaction as their agent, by the Committee of the House. 
 If, on the other hand, it were intended to address it to the party to whom 
 the books ultimately belonged, it would seem that it should have gone to 
 the corpoi-ation. 
 
 The written answer of the directors (after stating their ignorance, whether 
 they should be called on to testify,) expressed a purpose not to testify to 
 the matters of the inquiry, in considerati(»n of the character of the inquiry, 
 and their own relation to it, as corporators and directors. But as none of 
 the persons summoned were required by the committee to testify, no actual 
 refusal to testify took place, and consequently no contempt (supposing an 
 actual refusal would have been such contempt, which the undersigned do 
 not admit) was committed by the diiectors against the authority of the 
 House. 
 
 The undersigned are aware that, supposing the process valid in its object^ 
 substance, form, and service, it was matter of indifference, as far as the 
 question of right is concerned, what book or books the directors were re- 
 quired by it to produce. But they cannot but express the opinion, that a 
 demand for the credit books of the Bank, sliowing the accounts of every in- 
 dividual w iih the institution, was tiie last which, in a tender regard to the 
 rights and feelings of third persons, it would have been expedient to make. 
 
 So sacred is tlie confidence of individuals dealing with tiie Bank, that 
 the charter exempts the state of their accounts from the weekly inspection, 
 which the Secretary of the Treasui-y is authorized to make, and the by- 
 laws, whicli have been in force from tl»e foundation of the institution, forbid 
 a director, without sj)ecial authority, to inspect the cash account of indi- 
 viduals. To recjuire tlie directors to take from the banking house, convoy 
 througli the i)ublic street, and open for inspection in the chamber of a liotel, 
 the book containing the account of every individual with the Bank, would 
 seem to indicate the purpose of putting to the severest test the power of the 
 House, the obedience of the Bank, and the patience of innocent third par- 
 ties whose vital interests might be jeoparded in this prQcedure.
 
 62 [ Rep. No. 481. | 
 
 The previous demands of the committee having assumed the form of re- 
 quests, could only be objected to in their spirit and tendency. There is 
 nothing which a committee authorized to inquire, may not request, because 
 there is no request, which, as such, may not be refused. The law knows 
 nothing of requests ; their refusal puts no one in contempt. But the pro- 
 cess now under consideration assumes the form of a legal and compulsory 
 instrument, authenticated by the seal of the House, ami the signature of 
 the Clerk. Obedience to such an instrument, (if it is lawfully issued,) can 
 be compelled against all obstacles and opponents, and those who maintain 
 its legality, must maintain the power of enforcing it. How shall it be en- 
 forced, in case it is disobeyed and resisted ? Shall the Sergeant-at-Arms 
 be sent to attach the diiectors ? Shall they be brought prisoners to the 
 seat of Government, and the bar of the Housej attached for refusing to 
 produce and bring tlieir books to the North American hotel, and for avowing 
 a purpose (which was not put to the test) not to submit to an examination 
 on oath, touching their own crimes and misdemeanors ? A satisfactory 
 answer, consonant to reason and justice, and grounded on the constitution 
 and laws of the United States, must be found to this question, by all persons 
 ivho maintain the validity of the process issued by the committee. 
 
 That such a process is no subpoena (hices tecum, is obvious from the 
 fact that it is addressed to the parties implicated. It is no process in chan- 
 cery, requiring a party to produce his books and papers ; for its avowed 
 object is to inquire whether "a criminal prosecution shall be instituted ;'* 
 an object for which the Chancellor will require no man to produce his pa- 
 pers. Unlike any of the processes known to the humane jurisdiction of the 
 present day, it is, in their most odious features, identical with the general 
 warrants of the dark ages of English liberty, and the writs of assistance 
 which first kindled the spirit of resistance in the American colonies. It is 
 a compulsory process, to comjjel the good peo])le of the United States to 
 produce their books and papers, and submit tiiem to general search in proof 
 <jf crimes not charged but suspected ; to be enforced by attachment, im- 
 prisonment, and infinite distress ; — a search of books, a search of papers, a 
 search of accounts, a search of letters, and an examination on oath of the 
 persons implicated, touching the matters whereof they are suspected. In what 
 does such a warrant differ from those which were issued under the First 
 Charles and the Second James, for which, among other things, Scroggs was 
 impeached; and which the House of Commons, in 1763, after full argument, 
 solemnly resolved to be illegal ? Illegal for a Court of King's Bench in 
 1684, illegal in the judgment of the House of Commons in 1763, the 
 undersigned are slow to believe that an American House of Representatives, 
 in 1834, will be found to assert, or an American citizen to admit, their 
 legality. 
 
 In conclusion, the undersigned would observe, that neither of them gave 
 liis voice for the resolution creating the committee, nor deemed the inquiry, 
 in many of its objects, necessary or jjroper. They hope it is not impro- 
 per to add the expression of the opinion tliat, had the attention of the House 
 been particularly drawn in debate to the terms of the resolution, it would 
 have received some modification ; and that it is owing to its passage under 
 the operation of the previous question, and without any examination of its 
 details, that it received, in its present form, the sanction of the House. 
 Being, however, placed on the committee, the undersigned were desirous 
 of discharging tlieir duty as members of it, under the order of the House,
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. I 63 
 
 to the best of their ability, and according to their understanding of the 
 rights of the corporation visited — the powers of the House, and the 
 principles of justice. They were desirous of taking up the various matters 
 of inquiry enumerated in the resolution, viz. the causes of the distress, 
 the alleged violations of the charter, and the imputed corruptions of the 
 Bank, one by one ; of considering them in the order in which they are ar- 
 ranged by the House ; of investigating each according to its nature ; of 
 inspecting the books and examining the proceedings of the Bank according 
 to the charter, that is, in reference to all objects which, by the charter, 
 are properly subjects of such inspection and examination ; or in regard to 
 which the directors might voluntarily submit them for inspection ; and of 
 inquiring into the other matters referred to them, as far as, on considera- 
 tion, they should deem the committee competent to do so. 
 
 Of all these objects, the undersigned confess that they regarded that 
 which stands foremost in the resolution as vastly the most important ; an 
 inquiry into the causes of the present distress. It was their i^rm persua- 
 sion that the country demanded this inquiry of Congress. A number of me- 
 morials and of subscribers to them, greater by far than have at any former 
 period come before Congress, invoked the aid of the National Legislature to 
 relieve them from a state of unexampled distress. An embarrassment unu- 
 sually extensive and severe, and not yet essentially alleviated, demanded 
 an inquiry into its causes. It was alleged, on the one hand, to be wan- 
 tonly produced by the Bank ; and, on the other, to be the unavoidable con- 
 sequence of the financial policy pursued by the Executive. The under- 
 signed wished to make this the first, as it was infinitely the most important 
 object of their investigations ; to receive the testimony of enlightened mer- 
 chants and men of business, in the intelligent community to which tliey 
 were sent, (who might be willing to appear before them,) as to the extent 
 iind causes of the distress ; to receive from the Bank those statements of 
 its affairs, which they are well persuaded it would most cheerfully have 
 afforded, and which would have illustrated its whole course in the difficult 
 and ti'ying position into which it has been thrown ; and from all other 
 persons, on whom the committee would have had a right to call, their testi- 
 mony as to the manner in which this measure of the Executive has been 
 taken up and carried on. Such an examination, the undersigned believe, 
 would have been useful to Congress ; satisfactory to the people ; and pow- 
 erfully efficient in leading to the removal of the heavy burdens now lying 
 on them. This object first accomplished, as it was the first in the pre- 
 cept of the House, the undersigned would have proceeded to consider the 
 violations of the charter ; and as the resolution of the House does not con- 
 fine the inquiry to those violations with which the Bank has been charged, 
 they would have deemed themselves authorized to extend their researches 
 to those of which the Bank complains, particularly to the removal of the 
 deposites fov reasons not deemed satisfactory by Congress, as now appears 
 of record on the journal of one of the Houses j)f Congress. If, after these in- 
 quiries had been gone through, it had still apjieared, on considering the other 
 matters comprehended in the resolution, that they required or admitted 
 further investigation, the undersigned would cheerfully have co-operated in 
 the work, resorting to every source of information, legally available, as 
 far as the same could, by the charter, be required from the Bank, or le- 
 gally received or compelled from any other quarter. If, in the progress of 
 such an investigation, so conducted, disclosures had been made of matter
 
 64 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 requiring or authorizing any further procedure on the part of the House, 
 the undersigned would not have been behind the most zeah)us of tlieir as- 
 sociates, in denouncing it to the House and the country. A different view 
 of their duty was, however, taken by their colleagues, resulting in a series 
 of measures, from which the undersigned unfortunately found themselves 
 obliged to dissent. 
 
 But while there was a form, in which the undersigned were prepared to 
 meet every part of the resolution under which the committee was raised — 
 the foi-m most consonant to the wants and wishes of tlie country, (to which 
 all other matters of party crimination are insignificant, compared with the 
 great question of the causes, the just responsibility, and the remedies of 
 tiie present sore distress) — the form unquestionably in which the resolution 
 was viewed by one considerable class of those who vjted (or it In the. Honco - 
 the undersigned freely admit that, in the range and character proposed to 
 be given to tiie inquiry by their colleagues, the majority of the committee, 
 the purpose of the majority of the House was not mistaken. They think that 
 no candid person, contemplating all the circumstances of the case from the 
 first demonstrations of a policy on the part of the Executive hostile to the 
 Bank, down to the recent measures in support of that policy in the House 
 of Representatives, will deny that its object was the overthrow of the insti- 
 tution, and the injpeachmentof its directors, before the bar of public opinion, 
 if not before that of the judicial tribunals of the land, of gross malprac- 
 tices, corruptions, and frauds ; and that the inquiry to be conducted by 
 the committee, of which the undersigned composed the minority, was pro- 
 posed to be one of the measures to promote that end. So far from this 
 being denied, the undersigned understand it to be not only admitted but 
 claimed as a merit, on the part of the friends of the present administratioa 
 of the National Government. 
 
 How was it natural that such an inquiry should be met by the Bank, or 
 rather by those who have been entrusted by the stockholders with its direc- 
 tion ? The Bank is a legal abstraction. To charge the Bank with bribery 
 and corruption, is to use words which have no accurate meaning, true or 
 false. The party implicated is the dii-ectory and officers ; men of charac- 
 ter ; men known to the community as some of its most useful members and 
 highest ornaments; men of probity, unimpeached in privatelife. Some of 
 them are merchants, whose word in ths most important transactions would 
 be deemed as good as their bond, and others are professional characters, 
 who adorn the highest tribunals of the country. These are the party im- 
 plicated ; charged with a most cruel and perfidious design to bring univer- 
 sal distress upon the country, for the sake of paltry selfish ends; and, to 
 promote these ends, further charged with corrupting the conductors of the 
 press, corrupting the people in the exercise of their elective franchise, and 
 corrupting the members of Congress. Are honest and honorable men, 
 charged with these odious misdemeanors, to submit to the charge without 
 a murmur; to acknowledge the reasonableness of making it; the expe- 
 diency of investigating it, all vague and unspecified as it is; the reality 
 of a prima fade case against them ? Does conscious innocence require them 
 to admit that there is ground of suspicion ? Does the strong and indignant 
 feeling that their characters arc outraged, while their rights are invaded, 
 call upon tliein voluntarily to take the cul[)i'it's jjlace ; and endure the 
 ignominy of what they deem an uncalled for and a vexatious inquisition? 
 Or is it not rather the natural dictate of proud and conscious innocence to
 
 f Rep. No. 481. ] 65 
 
 place themselves upon their rights, beneath the segis of the law ? If I go 
 to my neighbor, as honest a man as myself, and say, *• you are a swindler 
 and a knave," shall he meekly ask me to enter his house, lay open his 
 ledger and his letter book, an:l invite me to collect the materials out of 
 which I may prejudice tlie public against him ? The directors of the 
 Bank are citizens, as honest and as viituous as any of those, in office or 
 out of it, high or low, who charge them witli corruption. A good name is 
 as dear to them as to their accusers. Their stake in the welfare of the 
 country is as great. The success with which they have conducted the 
 affairs of the great institution entrusted to their care, is not matter of opi- 
 nion ; it is notorious to all the Avorld. At tijis moment, notwithstanding 
 the fearful warfare waged against them by almost every branch of the 
 Government of their own country, tiieir credit is as good at London and 
 Paris, as that of the Bank of England or France. At this moment, in 
 the remotest East, in the markets of China, where the silver coin of the 
 countr} , from the public mint, is undervalued, the paper of the Bank 
 of the United States is an acceptable currency. In the midst of its career 
 of usefulness, it has been, unfortunately for the country, drawn into the 
 field of political controversy ; its directors and officers vilified by name, 
 their most laudable measures misrepresented, their most innocent acts 
 calumniated, and their slightest errors of judgment tortured into corrup- 
 tions and crimes ; above all, the severe distre>5S, with which the country 
 has been visited, for the sake of cairying on tliis warfare, has been cruelly 
 imputed to the wanton (action of the Bank, though struggling for its own 
 existence against the most formidable efforts to crush it. I'he calm and 
 dignified tone whicii characterizes the communications of the Committee of 
 Directoi-s, under circumstances like these, is, to the undersigned, a satisfac- 
 tory indication of their integrity and conscious purity. They have placed 
 themselves where, as American citizens, conscious of their rights, of their 
 injuries, and of their innocence, they had a right to place themselves, 
 under the protection of the law. 
 
 Firmly believing that they are innocent of the crimes and corruptions 
 with which they have been charged, and that, if guilty, they ought not to 
 be compelled to criminate themselves, tlie undersigned are clearly of opi- 
 nion that the directors of the Bank have been guilty of no contempt of 
 the authority of this House, in having res[)ectfully declined to submit their 
 books for insjiection, except as requii-ed by the chai'ter. 
 
 AH which is respectfully submitted by 
 
 EDWARD EVERETT, 
 WILLIAM W. ELLSWORTH. 
 
 House of Representatives, 
 Z2d MiiJ, 1834.
 
 m [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Philadelphia, North AMEiticAN Hotel, 
 
 Jpril 23, 1834. 
 
 Sir: I have been directed by the committee appointed to investigate 
 the affairs of the Bank of the United States, to enclose to you the accom- 
 panying copy of a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 
 United States, and to inform you that the committee will be prepared to 
 visit the Bank of the United States to-morrow, at any hour that will be 
 agreeable to you to receive them, to commence the discharge of the duties 
 assigned them. 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Very resjjectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 FRANCIS TKOMAS, 
 Chairman Committee of Investigation* 
 N. BiDDLE, Esq. 
 
 Frcsident Bank of the United States. 
 
 liesolvedf That, for the purpose of ascertaining, as far as practicable, 
 the cause of the commercial embarrassment and distress complained of by 
 numerous citizens of the United States, in sundry memorials vvl.xh have 
 been presented to Congress at the present session, and of inquiring whether 
 the charter of the Bank of the United States has been violated, and also 
 what corruptions and abuses have existed in its management ; whether it 
 has used its corporate power, or money, to control the press, to interfere 
 in politics, or influence elections, and whether it has had any agency, 
 through its management or money, in producing the existing pressure, a 
 select committee be appointed to inspect the books and examine into the 
 proceedings of the said Bank, who shall report whether the provisions of 
 the charter have been violated or not, and also what abuses, coiTuptions, 
 or malpractices have existed in the majiagement of said Baidi, and that 
 the said committee be authorized to send for persons and papers, and to 
 summon and examine v\itnesses on oath, and to exan)ine into the affairs of 
 the said Bank and branches; and they arc fuither authorized to visit the 
 principal Bank, oi- any of its branches, for the purpose of inspecting the 
 books, correspondence, accounts, and other jiapers connected with its 
 management or business ; and that the said committee be required to re- 
 port the result of such investigation, together with the evidence they may 
 take, at as early a day as practicable.
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 67 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 ^pril 23, 1834. 
 'Sir : I have had the honor of receiving your letter of this day's date, 
 witii a copy of the resolution of tlie House of Representatives of the 
 United States, ])assed on the 4th instant. 
 
 1 shall forthwitli call a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the 
 Bank at nine o'clock to-morrow morjiing, when these papers shall be sub- 
 mitted to them, after which a communication on the subject shall be made 
 to you. 5 
 
 In the mean time, I have the honor to be. 
 
 Very respectfully, yours, 
 
 N. BIDDLE, Vresident. 
 Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman Committee of Investigation, 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 ,3pril £4, 1834. 
 Sir: I am directed by a Committee of the Directors of the Bank of the 
 United States, to send you the enclosed copy of a resolution adopted this 
 morning by the Board, at a special meeting, convened in consequence of 
 your communication of yesterday to the President, and to inform you that 
 the committee will immediately direct the necessary arrangements to be 
 made for the accommodation of the Committee of tiie House of Representa- 
 tives of the United States, and will attend at the Bank to receive them at 
 11 o'clock to-morrow morning. 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 • ^Your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOtlN SERGEANT. 
 
 Chairman. 
 To the Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman Committee of Investigatien. 
 
 Resolvedf That a committee of seven members of the Board be appoint- 
 ed to receive the Committee of the House of Representatives of the United 
 States and to oftVr for their inspection such books and papers of the 
 Bank as may be necessary to exhibit the proceedings of the corporation 
 according to the requirement of the charter. 
 
 The following directors were then appointed to compose the said com- 
 mittee : 
 
 Mr. Sergeant, Mr. Eyre, Mr. Lewis, Mr. NefF, Mr. Chauncey, Mr. 
 Coxe, Mr. Henry. 
 
 No. 
 
 Friday, ^pril S.5, 1834. 
 
 Mr. Sergeant offered to the Committee of the House of Representatives 
 the assistance of the Committee of the Bank, in giving every facility to the
 
 68 ' [ R)&p. No. 481. J 
 
 prosecution of their inquiry. Mr. Thomas then presented to the Commit- 
 tee of the Bank the following : 
 
 Ordered, Tiiat the President of the Bank of the United States he re^ 
 quested to furnish the committee with a list of the hooks of the Bank, with 
 an explanation of the purposes for which each is designed, and the names 
 of the clerks to whose care and custody they are respectively committed; 
 and, also, a copy of the hy-laws now in force in the Bank, and of the by- 
 Jaws in force prior to the first Monday of December, 1829. 
 
 No. 4. 
 Bank or the United States, 
 
 ^prit 25, 1834. 
 
 Sir: I have had the honor to send you, agreeably to your request, <<a 
 list of tlie books of the Bank, with an explanation of the purposes for which 
 each is designed.'* 
 
 In regard to the remaining part of the inquiry, " the names of the clerks 
 to whose care and custody they are respectively committed," I am in- 
 structed by the Committee of the Board to say that these books are not 
 understood to be in the care and custody of the clerks, but in the general 
 custody of the Boai'd. The names of the clerks who make entries in them^ 
 and for that purpose have possession of them during the hours of busi- 
 ness, are added to the list of the books. 
 
 I also enclose " a copy of the by-laws now in force in the Bank, and of 
 the by-laws in force prior to tlie first Monday of December, ]829." 
 I have tlie Iionor to be, 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 JOHN SERGEANT, 
 
 Chairman^ 
 The Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of Committee oj Investigation. 
 
 No. 5. 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 ^pril 26, 1834. 
 Sir : In compliance with the direction of the Committee of Investiga- 
 tion, I have the honor to enclose to you the accompanying resolutions.. 
 
 i am, very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, 
 Chairman* 
 To John Sergeant, Esq. 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Directors of the Bank U. S. 
 
 ' No. 6. 
 
 [Enclosed in the foregoing.] 
 Resolved, That the proceedings, investigations, and examinations of 
 the committee of tiie books, j)apers, and affairs of the Bank, shall be con 
 fidential, unless otherwise ordered by the committee.
 
 f Rep. No. 481. ] ' 69 
 
 Resolved, That the investigation of this committee into the affairs, ma- 
 nagement, and concerns of the Bank of the United Stj^tes, shall be con- 
 ducted without the presence of any person who is not requirecj, or invited 
 to attend the examination of this committee. 
 
 Resolved, Tiiat the chairman communicate a copy of the foregoing reso- 
 lutions to the committee appointed by the directors of tlie Bank of the 
 United States to receive the Committee of the House of Representativ es. , , 
 
 A true copy. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH, 
 
 Secretary to the Committee. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Bank op the United States, 
 
 .April 26, 18S4. 
 
 Sir: I have received, and have laid before the Committee of the Direc- 
 tors of the Bank of the United States, your note of this date, and the 
 enclosed copy of the resolutions of the Committee of tlie House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the United States. I am directed by the committee to inform 
 you that your communication will be laid before the Board at a special 
 meeting convened for the purpose, and that we will be prepared to make 
 known to you the decision of the Board at your next meeting, on Monday, 
 at 1 1 o'clock. 
 
 I have the honor to be 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 To the Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation of the House of Reps. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 Jpril 28, 18S4. 
 
 Sir : In conformity to my communication of the 26th instant, your note 
 of that date, a;id the resolutions enclosed in it, have been laid before the 
 Board of Directors of the Baukof the United States at a special meeting 
 convened for the purjKtse. I have now the honor to enclose you a copy of 
 the resolutions of the Board, and to be, 
 With great respect. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 To the Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of the House of Reps. U. S. 
 
 1. Resolved,T\\!it the Board recognise the right of the Committee of the 
 House of Representatives of the United States to inspect the books and to 
 examine into the proceedings of the Bank of the United States, according
 
 # ' [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 to tlie provisions of the charter ; and, to enable the committee to exercise 
 this right, according to the order of t!ie House of Representatives, the 
 Board have endeavored to do all that could manifest tlieir respect for ther 
 committee, or contribute to t!ie convenient perfoimance of its duty, by of- 
 fering a room in the banking house for its accommodation, and a})pointing 
 a committee of directors to exhibit the books and papers according to the 
 requirement of the charter : but the Board cannot, consistently with their 
 sense of duty to the Bank, and of the obligations of the trust committed 
 to them, consent to give up the custody and possession of the books and 
 papers of the Bank, nor ])ermit t!»em to be examined but in the presence 
 of the committee appointed by the Board. 
 
 2. Resolved, That considering the nature of the proceedings, which re- 
 sulted in the resolution for the appointment rf the Committee of the House 
 of Representatives of the United States, to examine the Bank of the 
 United States, and considering the very grave and accusatory nature 
 of the inquiries directed to be made by that resolution, as well in their 
 bearing iij>on the Bank, as ujmn the individual citizens entrusted with 
 its administration, the Board cainiot but deem it due to the demands 
 of common justice that tlie institution, and the individuals, should 
 have the opportunity to be piesent, by their representatives appointed 
 for that i)urpose, at all examinations to be made by the committee 
 touching their character and conduct, whether the same be of books and 
 papers, or of witnesses. It is most manifest to the Board thai, for the 
 purpose of arriving at the truth, examination in t!ie ])resence of the par- 
 ties would be the natural and elTectual mode of proceeding ; and the Board, 
 being confident that examinations so conducted would result in a manner 
 creditable to the Bank, ha.e ])romptIy and cheerfuily acceded to the am- 
 plest investigation : but, if they are to understand the resolutions of tlie 
 Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States, of the 
 26th instant, as announcijig an intention to pursue a different course, they 
 do solemnly protest against the same, being fully satisfied that secret and 
 partial examinations are unjust and oppressive, and contiary to common 
 right, and never to be resorted to but in cases of necessity, of wiiich the 
 present cannot, in the oj)inion of the Board, be said to be one. 
 
 3. Kesolvedf That the committee, appointed on the 24th instant, be in- 
 structed to furnish a certified copy of the foi-egoing resolutions to the Com- 
 mittee of the House of Representatives of the United States. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Ba>'K of the United States, 
 
 Jpril 28, 1834. 
 Sir : I have been directed bv the Committee of Investigation to ac- 
 knowledge the receipt of your letter of tiie 28th instant, and to inform you 
 that I shall be authorized to rejjly to it by to-morrow at 9 o'clock A. M^ 
 I am, vei-y respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS. 
 John Sergeant, Esq. 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Directors of the V. S. Bank.
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 71. 
 
 No. 10. 
 Committee Room, .Ipril 29, 1834. 
 Sir : I Iiavn the honor to enclose to you the accompanying co])ies of re- 
 solutions which have heen adopted to-day hy t!ie Committee of Investiga- 
 tion, in reply to your communication of the 28tli instant. 
 With great respect, 
 
 I am your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS. 
 To John Sergeant, Esq. 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Directors of the U. S. Bank. 
 
 No. 11. 
 
 [Enclosed in the foregoing.] 
 
 Committee Room, JlpriL 29, 1834. 
 At a meeting of the Committee of Investigation of tlie House of Repre- 
 sentatives, on motion, 
 
 1. Resolved, That this committee duly ajipreciate liie disposition mani- 
 fested hy tlie directors of the Bank of the United States, in offering ac- 
 commodations in their hanking house for its use, as contained in tlie com- 
 munication of the Committee of the Board of Directors of the 24th instant, 
 that this committee accepted that offer under the belief that it would pro- 
 mote as well its convenience as that of the otKcers of the Batik, and that 
 the room thus offered would be exclusively for its occupation, and that of 
 those whose attendance might be, by the committee, required or assented 
 to, during the business hours of the Bank, and that the committee is will- 
 ing still so to consider it. 
 
 2. Resolved, Tisat this committee, charged vvitli important duties, and 
 acting undei* its responsibility to the House of Representatives, and the 
 laws of the United States, claims the right, to be exercised at its discre- 
 tion, to compel the production of the books and papers of the Bank for 
 inspection, and to inspect the same in sucli mode as to the committee may 
 seem best calculated to promote t!ie objects of its inquiry. But this com- 
 mittee has not determined that it will become necessary to perform that 
 duty, out of the presence of those changed by the directors to submit the 
 same to the inspection of the committee. 
 
 3. Resolved, That this committee cannot recognise the right of the 
 Board of Directors to regard the resolution of the House of Representa- 
 tives as accusatory in its character, or this committee as charged with the 
 duty of criminating the Bank or its otlicers. That, in the resolution of the 
 26th instant, the committee intended to assert its right to control its own 
 proceedings, and not to indicate a purpose of making a secret and partial 
 examination, or of practising injustice or opj)i-ession. That the commit- 
 tee cannot but regai-d the expression of such an apprehension by the Board 
 of Directors as unjust to its members, and unauthorized by the resolution. 
 
 4. Resolved, That this committee, actuated by a sense of justice, will 
 unhesitatingly afford to every person, whose character or conduct may 
 seem to be affected in the ])rogress of their investigations, a full opportu- 
 nity of explanation atid defence, but claim the right of determining the 
 time and mode of giving such privilege ; and, therefore, cannot recognise 
 the right of the directors to prescribe the course to be pursued by this 
 committee in making its examinations. 
 
 5. Resolvedf That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be communicated 
 by the chairman to the Committee of the Directors of the Bank.
 
 72 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 Bank of the United States, 
 
 »9pril 29, 1834. 
 
 Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge your note of this date, and the 
 copy, enclosed in it, of the resolutions adopted hy the Committee of the 
 House of Representatives of the United States. They have heen laid be- 
 fore the Committee of the Board of Directors, and I am directed by them 
 to make the following reply : 
 
 The committee would, in the first place, respectfully state that it was 
 not their intention, nor the intention of the Board, to allege that the Com- 
 mittee of Investigation was charged with the duty of criminating the 
 Bank or offices. They meant only to say, as will be seen by reference to 
 the resolution, that the inquiries directed to be made were in their nature 
 accusatory : and so the Committee of the Board are still obliged to consi- 
 der them. 
 
 The committee would further respectfully state that it was not the in- 
 tention of the Board to impute to the Committee of Investigation a pur- 
 pose of making a secret and partial examination, or of practising injustice 
 or oppression. They simply intended to assert what they believe to be 
 beyond all dispute or doubt, that secret and partial examinations into 
 matters which have a bearing upon the character and conduct of indi- 
 viduals are unavoidably unjust and oppressive. 
 
 And, finally, the committee would most respectfully disclaim all inten- 
 tion to control in any manner the proceedings of the Committee of Inves- 
 tigation, or to prescribe to it any couise whatever. The Board are very 
 sensible they have neither the power nor the right to do so. The only 
 purpose of the Board was to exhibit respectfully to the Committee of In- 
 vestigation their views of their own rights upon the two points presented . 
 by the resolutions of the Committee of Investigation of the 26th instant, ; 
 from which views they have seen no reason to depart. 
 
 The committee are very happy to perceive that, as yet, there is no prac- 
 tical difference between the views of the Board and those entertained by 
 the Committee of Investigation, as to the mode of proceeding to be adopt- 
 ed, inasmuch as the resolutions you have done me the honor to send me, 
 inform us that the Committee of Investigation have not come to any deci- 
 sion, and we, therefore, may indulge a hope that, seeing the reasonableness 
 and justice of the views respectfully suggested by the Board, the Commit-, 
 tee of Investigation, when they come to decide, will not differ from the , 
 Board in opinion. 
 
 I am directed, in conclusion, respectfully to request, when the Committee 
 of Investigation shall have decided upon the' mode of i)roceeding they will 
 adopt, they will be good enough to communicate their decision, that the 
 Board may be able to take such measures as it may seem to require. In 
 the mean time, I beg you to be assured of tlie continued disposition of the 
 Board and the committee to contribute all that may be in their power to 
 promote the accommodation and convenience of the Committee of Inves- 
 tigation, as well as of the great respect of 
 
 Sip, your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 
 To the Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of the House of Reps. U. 8.
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J ' ' 73 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 Committee Room, -4pnZ 29, 1834. 
 
 Sir: In compliance with the directions of the Committee of Investigation, I 
 have the honor to enclose to you the accompanying resolutions. 
 With high respect, I am your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, Chairman. 
 To John Sergeant, Esq., 
 
 Chairman of the Com. of Directors of the Bank of the U. S. 
 
 No. 14. 
 [Enclosed in the foregoing.] 
 
 Resolved, That the President,iDirectors, and Company of the Bank of the Uni- 
 ted States be requested to furnish the Committee with a statement of the outstand- 
 ing certificates of the public debt, for which the Bank holds the money in depo- 
 site to redeem, under the designation of " redemption of public debt," showing 
 the names and residence of the holders of such outstanding certificates; the amount 
 of each, and the aggregate of the whole; the class of loans to which they belong 
 respectively, and whether the Bank has paid interest to any of the holders of the 
 same, since they fell due and payable. 
 
 A true copy: RICHARD RUSH, Secretary. 
 
 No. 15. 
 
 Resolved, That the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank'of the Uni- 
 ted States be requested to furnish the Committee with the entire correspondence 
 between said Bank, or any of its agents, and the Secretary of the Treasury and 
 Baring, Brothers and Company, and Hottinguer and Company, touching the bill 
 of exchange drawn by the Treasury Department on the French Government, on 
 the 7th of February, 1833; also copies of all accounts and accounts current with 
 said Bank, from either Baring, Brothers and Company, or Hottinguer and Com- 
 pany, between the 1st of January and July, 1833. 
 
 A true copy: RICHARD RUSH, Secretary. 
 
 No. 16. 
 
 Resolved, That the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of the 
 United States, be requested to furnish the Committee with a list of the names and 
 residences of all the persons who surrendered their certificates of tliree per cent, 
 stock, and received a credit on the books of the Bank therefor; the time when, and 
 amount placed at the credit of each; the aggregate amount thus surrendered, and the 
 dates at which the same were paid by the Bank to the proprietors; the names of the 
 agents employed by the Bank in any negotiations or arrangements to postpone the 
 payment of said stocks; the compensation allowed to each agent; and the amount 
 of expenses allowed to each in addition to compensation. 
 
 A true copy: RICHARD RUSH, Secretary. 
 
 No. 17. 
 
 Resolved, Tliat the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of the 
 
 United States bo requested to furnish the Committee with a statement, siiowing 
 
 the names of all special agents employed by the Bank since its establishment, the 
 
 objects of such agencies, the compensation allowed to each, the services rendered 
 
 10
 
 74 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 by each, the duration of such agencies, the expenses allowed to each in addition 
 to compensation, and whether either of such agents was either a member of Con- 
 gress, State Legislature, or officer of the General Government, at the time of 
 employment. A true copy: RICHARD RUSH, Secretnryi 
 
 No. 18. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank of the United States 
 be requested ta furnish this Committee with the following statements: 
 
 1st. A statement showing tiie amount of public money on deposite in the Bank 
 and its branches respectively, to the credit of the Treasurer, and other officers of 
 the United States, in each month, from April, 1832, to April, 1834, inclusive. 
 
 2d. A statement showing the number of votes given at each election for Di- 
 rectors of the parent Bank since December, 1832; showing, also, what number 
 of votes were given in person by the stockholders, and what number by proxy, 
 and by whom such proxies were held, and a list of the Directors elected at each 
 election. 
 
 3d. A statement showing the amount of gold or silver coin which has been 
 purchased or sold by the Bank, the names of the persons to whom such sales 
 and from whom such purchases have been made, and the gross amount of profit 
 derived by the Bank therefrom; and also showing the most usual and highest 
 prices received for each of the following descriptions cf coin, and whether the 
 same have beew sold in the United States, or in foreign countries. 
 
 1. Gold eagles, halves, and quarters of the United States' coinage. 
 
 2. Silver dollars, halves, and quarters of the same coinage. 
 
 3. Spanish doubloons, and their parts. 
 
 4. Patriot do. do. 
 
 5. Spanish milled, Mexican, Peruvian, and Chilian dollars. 
 
 6. English guineas and sovereigns. 
 
 7. Louisd'ors df France, and five-franc pieces. 
 
 8. Half Joes of Portugal or Brazil. 
 
 4th. A statement showing the amount of gold or silver coin which has been 
 drawn, by order of the parent Bank, from each of its western, southwestern, and 
 southern offices; and also the amount of specie which has been sent thereto by the 
 same authority. 
 
 5th. A statement showing the names of all persons, alphabetically arranged, 
 who were indebted to the parent Bank on the first Monday of December, 1829; 
 showing, also, whether by authority from the Board of Directors, the Exchange 
 Committee, the President, or other officer of the Bank, each loan thus made the 
 residence of each borrower or debtor, the terms on which each loan was made, 
 and whether each debtor was liable as endorser or drawer, principal or security, i 
 
 6th. Statement, similar to the foregoing, of the debts due to the parent Bank? 
 on the 1st day of June, 1832, and on the 28ih day of April, 1834. '^ 
 
 7th. A statement showing the amount of foreign or domestic gold or silver coin^b 
 or bullion, which has been exported by the Bank, for each and every month, since*^ 
 the 1st of March, 1832, and the profits derived by the Bank from such exporta-" 
 tion; and also the amount of specie imported by the Bank within the saraao 
 period. 
 
 8th. A statement showing the capital of each of the offices or branches of the 
 Bank, with a tabular statement showing the liabilities and resources of each branch 
 or office, on the 1st of each and every month, from March, 1832, to April, 1834, 
 inclusive. 
 
 9th. A statement showing the amount of domestic bills possessed by each of the 
 branches and officers of the Bank on the first day of each month, from March, 
 1832, to April, 1834, inclusive; showing also the places at which the same were^'
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. 1 75- 
 
 purchased, and the time when and places where the same were or will be 
 payable. 
 
 iOth. A statement showing the amount of money which has been at any time- 
 loaned by the Bank on pledges of stock as collateral security, the kind and de- 
 scription of stocks thus pledged, the date and terms of each loan, the names of the 
 borrowers, with the amount loaned to each, and the amount now due by such 
 borrowers respectively. 
 
 11th. A statement showing the names of the stockholders of the Bank, with the 
 number of shares held by each, the residence of each, their official stations, if in 
 office; and showing also the aggregate number and value of the shares held by 
 foreigners and citizens of the United States respectively. 
 A true copy: 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 No. 19. 
 
 Committee Room, (North American Hotel,) April 30, 1834. 
 
 Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29th 
 instant, and, having submitted it to the consideration of the Committee of Investi- 
 gation, have been authorized to present to you the following reply: 
 
 The Committee regret to find that the character of the resolutions heretofore 
 adopted by them, and of which copies have been forAvarded to you, is much mis- 
 understood. In your letter of the 29th, it is said " that the Committee of Investi- 
 gation have not come to any decision" as to the mode of proceeding to be adopted. 
 The propriety or justice of such an allegation is not perceived. The Committee 
 have decided, and made known to you that decision, that they have the power to 
 compel the production of the books and papers of the Bank for inspection; that 
 they have the power to make such inspection in the presence of those only who may 
 be by the Committee required or invited to attend; and to exclude from their room all' 
 persons whatever, who, by their presence, may in any degree tend to impede the ' 
 progress of the inspection of the books and papers,, or incommode the members of 
 the Committee in the discharge of the high duties devolved on them by the House 
 of Representatives. Tlie Committee reserve the right to exercise that power when ' 
 it shall become necessary, and in the manner which their sense of propriety, and' 
 desire to do justice to the Bank and to the country, may dictate. They hope that 
 nothing will occur, in the course of this scrutiny, which may render it proper for 
 them to decide upon and exercise the full extent of the powers conferred upon 
 them by the House; and are iiappy to learn that " there is no practical difference 
 between the views of the Board and those entertained by the Committee." They 
 will be glad to know whether they are authorized to conclude tiiat the room which 
 has been oflered for their accommodation at the banking house, can be conve- 
 niently set apart for their exclusive use and occupation, from ten o'clock, A. M. 
 until three, P. M. during their continuance in Philadelphia. The Committee 
 assure the Committee of Directors, tliat it is their desire to conduct the investiga- 
 tion at the place mutually convenient to them and the officers of the Bank, and in 
 a manner calculated to work no " injustice or oppression." 
 
 An answer, consistent with your earliest convenience, to so much of this com- 
 munication as relates to the occupation of the room in the banking house, is 
 respectfully requested. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS. 
 
 To John Sergeant, Esq., Chairman of the Committee 
 
 of the Board of Directors of the Bank of the United States.
 
 76 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 No. 20. 
 
 Bank of the United States, May \st^ 1834. 
 
 Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of the 30th of April. It has 
 been laid before the Committee of the Board, and, by their direction, I make the 
 following reply: 
 
 In saying that, according to the tenor of the resolutions of the Committee of In- 
 vestigation of the 29th ult., there was "as yet no practical ditference" between the 
 Committee and the Board, the Committeeof the Board still think the language they 
 used was correct and appropriate. It is true, that in these resolutions the Committee 
 of Investigation had asserted a power which might, perhaps, have been controverted. 
 But it was not the intention of the Committee of the Board to discuss or question the 
 powers of the Committee of Investigation in the abstract, or as matter of opinion, 
 but simply to set forth their own views of what they believe to be the rights of the 
 Bank, and of the individual citizens intrusted with its administration. 
 
 The "practical difference," according to the view of the Committee of the 
 Board, would only occur when there should be an actual, as distinguished from a 
 theoretical collision; that is to say, when an exertion of power, attempted by the 
 Committee of Investigation, should be met by an assertion of right on the part of 
 the Board, incompatible with its prosecution. Such a state of things would be ex- 
 tremely to be regretted. It must, nevertheless, be conceded that a case might be 
 presented in which the Committee of the Board would be compelled, by a deep 
 sense of duty, to consider their rights, and to act upon their own views of them. 
 
 Among the risks incident to an error of judgment in deciding, they would es- 
 teem it one of the greatest that their conduct might, by possibility, be imputed, 
 however unjustly, to a want of due respect for the Committee of Investigation, or 
 for the high source from which their authority is derived. 
 
 Under the influence of these feelings, and with a strong desire that the investi- 
 gation might be conducted in a manner satisfactory to both the parties, the Com- 
 mittee of the Board gladly embraced the belief — it may be that their strong inclina- 
 tion led them too hastily to believe — that there was, " as yet, no practical differ- 
 ence." If in this they misunderstood the terms of the resolutions of the Committee 
 of Investigation, they will be ready to receive explanation of the. Committee, in 
 this or any other matter, to correct the misunderstanding. 
 
 They deem it due, however, to the Committee of Investigation, as well as to 
 themselves, to say further, that in the letter of the Committee of Investigation of 
 the 30th ult. there appears to be a misapprehension of the meaning of the Commit- 
 tee of the Board in their letter of the 29lh ult. 
 
 The Committee of the Board did not say "that the Committee of Investigation 
 had not come to any decision as to the mode of proceeding to be adopted." They 
 do not know, nor can they, without failing in the respect due to themselves, pre- 
 tend to know, what may have been, or what may be, the decisions of the Commit- 
 tee of Investigation, except so far as the Committee may think fit to communicate 
 them. Accordingly, their letter of the — ult. was founded entirely on the reso- 
 lutions of the — ult., copies of which were transmitted to them by the Commit- 
 tee of Investigation; and the passage above quoted, with its context, referred es- 
 pecially to the following sentence, in the second of those resolutions, to wit: "But 
 this Committee has not determined that it will become necessary to perform that 
 duty out of the presence of those charged by the Directors to submit the same to 
 the inspection of the Committee." Comparing this with the resolutions of the 
 Board of Directors, heretofore handed to the Committee of Investigation, it did 
 appear to the Committee of the Board that there was no decision upon this mate- 
 rial point, cuid, therefore, that there was "as yet no practical difference." 
 
 Acting upon the same principle that has hitherto governed the Committee of the 
 Board, it is not their intention to question the statement of the Committee of In-
 
 I Rep. No. 481. ] 77 
 
 vestigation, " that they havo the power to compel the production of the books and 
 papers of the Bank," &c That such is the opinion of the Committee of Investi- 
 gation they have no doubt; and, as their opinion, the Committee of the Board 
 freely admit its claim to high respect. It is only when ceasing to be opinion 
 merely, it shall come in conflict with the rights of the Bank, or of those intrusted 
 with its administration, (if ever that should happen,) that the Committee of the 
 Board will find themselves bound, however reluctantly, to examine its application. 
 
 In reply to that part of your letter in which you inquire whether the Commit- 
 tee of Investigation " are authorized to conclude that the room which has been 
 offered for their accommodation at the banking house can be conveniently set 
 apart for their exclusive use and occupation, from 10 o'clock A. M. until 3 oclock 
 P. M., during their continuance in Philadelphia," I am directed by the Commitee 
 to say that they still have, as they always have had, every disposition to accom- 
 modate the Committee of Investigation, and such they are persuaded is the dispo- 
 sition also of the Board. The Committee find their authority in this respect set 
 forth in the resolutions of the Board of the 28th of April, communicated to the 
 Committee of Investigation on the same day, by which it appears that the Board 
 directed them to offer to the Committee of Investigation " a room in the bank- 
 ing house for its accommodation, and appointed them a Committee of Direct- 
 ors to exhibit the books and papers according to the requirement of the char- 
 ter." But the Board at the same time declared that they could not, "consistently 
 with their sense of duty to the Bank, and of the obligations of the trust committed 
 to them, consent to give up the custody and possession of the books and papers 
 of the Bank, nor to permit them to be examined but in the presence of the Com- 
 mittee appointed by the Board, The Committee of the Board have great plea- 
 sure in renewing to the Committee of Investigation the offer of the room, in the 
 manner pointed out by this resolution, and in tendering any further service in their 
 power that can promote the convenience of the Committee of Investigation. 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chmrman, 
 
 The Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigaiioru 
 
 No. 21. 
 
 North American Hotel, 
 
 Committee Room, 3Iaj/ 1, 1834 
 
 Sir: I have the honor to enclose to you the accompanying copies of resolutions 
 which have been adopted by the Committee of Investigation. 
 Very respectful!}', your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, Chairman. 
 John Sergeant, Esq. 
 
 Chairman of Committee of Directors of the Bank U. S. 
 
 [Enclosed in the foregoing.] 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish the Committee with copies of all correspondence between the President of 
 the Bank or any of its officers with members of Congress, or of unanswered letters 
 received from any one of them since the 1st day of July, 1832, touching the re- 
 newal of the charter of the Bank, the removal or restoration of the public depo- 
 sites, or touching the business transactions of such members with said Bank. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish the Committee with a statement showing the whole number of slaves whicli
 
 78 f Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 it has taken since its establishment, by purchase or in payment of debts, the time 
 when and from whom each was taken, the amount they were taken to pay or se- 
 cure; and whether such debts were under protest when such slaves were taken, 
 the names of all parties obligated upon each debt, and whetiier such slaves have 
 been sold by the Bank; and, if so, the amount obtained for each, the deficiency or 
 excess in each case of sale in respect to the debt on which such slaves were taken, 
 designating the branches at which such slaves were taken or sold. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish this Committee with a statement of their expense account since the 1st of 
 January, 1829, up to the date of this resolution being complied with, showing the 
 items and total for each half year, corresponding with the entries in their expense 
 book, and showing the names and residence of all persons to whom any payments 
 have been made, the amount to each, and the time and consideration of such pay- 
 ments, with copies of all vouchers taken for such payments. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish this Committee with a statement in detail of all over-drafts which have been 
 made on said Bank or branches since 1829, by members of Congress, or State 
 Legislatures; the time such over-drafts were made; and also by printers, editors, 
 and publishers of newspapers or periodicals, stating the time and amount of each 
 over-draft, by whom made, the period such over-drafts remained unpaid, and the 
 time and manner in which such drafts have been paid or secured. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish this Committee with the particular items and the aggregate of all fees or 
 compensations paid during each year to attorneys, counsellors, or lawyers, since 
 the establishment of the Bank; stating the amount paid to each person employed, 
 together with their names and residence, the times when the payments were made, 
 and the particular services rendered for each charge paid; also whether the same 
 has been paid at the parent Bank or branches, and at which, designating them; 
 also of all sums paid as a general or annual fee or salary to counsellors for the 
 Bank, specifying the name of each person, the amounts, and times, and places of 
 payment; and also whether such sums were paid b}' the order in each case of the 
 Board of Directors, or how otherwise paid, designating such sums as have been 
 paid in cash, and such as may have been passed to the credit of such persons or 
 others in payment of any debt or debts due to said Bank. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish this Committee with the entire correspondence between the Bank and the 
 New York branch since the 1st of January, 1833. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish this Committee with a statement of all the accounts and copies of the entire 
 correspondence between the Bank or any of its oflicers and ; also the corre- 
 spondence of the Bank, or that of any of its oflicers with the oflicers of the branch at 
 Washington, touching the debt owing, or which lias heretofore been owing by them 
 to the Bank of the United States or any of its branches, oc touching any negotia- 
 tions for the loan or payment of money since the 1st of January, 1829. 
 
 Resolved, I'liat the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish this Committee with a statement showing the amount of (lel)t directly or indi- 
 rectly due or owing to said Bank by and , or eitlier or botli, jointly 
 
 or severally, or by any other person for their benefit, or the benefit of either of 
 them; sliowing also the amount of debt thus due at any time heretofore, with a 
 statement of all payments on their account, with the dates thereof since the 1st of 
 April, 1832, with copies of any deed or deeds of trust, arrangement, contract, or 
 agreement, or assignment, entered into between said Bank and them, or either of 
 them, or others for the benefit of said Bank, or in which it may have a beneficial 
 interest; also copies of the entire correspondence between said Bank, or any officer 
 
 thereof, and tlie said and , or either of them; also a copy of any consent 
 
 which the Bank may have given, so far as concerned permitting to cstab-
 
 [Rep. No. 481. J 79 
 
 ish and publish a newspaper in the city of , notwithstanding his contract with 
 
 to the contrary. 
 
 Resolved, Tliat the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish this Committee with a statement of the amount of debt directly or indirectly 
 
 due or owing to the said Bank, or any of its branches, from , editor of the 
 
 , or any other person for his account and benefit; stating the maximum of 
 
 liis loans or debt at any time since he became indebted, the times and places 
 when and where contracted, and the time and manner in which the same has been 
 paid, reduced, or secured, and with copies of its entire correspondence with the 
 
 said . 
 
 'Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to furnish 
 this Committee with a statement, showing the details of the debt, which has, at 
 
 any time, been owing by , publisher of the , since 
 
 March, 1832, and showing how the same has been settled, secured, or arranged; also 
 copies of all proceedings of the Board of Directors, or any committee or officer of 
 said Bank, in relation to said debt, since that period; showing also the amount of 
 loss, if any, it has, or may probably, sustain by him. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish this Committee with copies of all legal opinions which it may have obtained from 
 counsel, touching the right of the Bank to Iiold the public moneys, contrary to the 
 jx)wers or orders of the Secretary of the Treasury to remove the same; also co- 
 pies of all the opinions obtained from counsel, in relation to delivering over, as 
 directed by the proper officer, the funds, books, and papers, provided for paying 
 revolutionary pensioners, or annuities, under the act of 7th June, ]832. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank be requested to fur- 
 nish this Committee witii a detailed statement of all loans made since the 1st of 
 Jaimary, 1829, to individuals wlio then were, who have been since, or who now 
 are, members of Congress, stating the amount of each loan, when the same was; 
 made, for what term^the security was given, and the time wlien such security was 
 received; and also the security which the Bank now holds, and the amount now 
 owing by any and each of such borrowers, or other persons for the benefit of such 
 borrowers, at the Bank, or either of the branches; and stating also the particulars 
 of any such loans which have been protested, or which are now under protest, and 
 the names of tho parties to any such debts; als?) the names (if any) of such per- 
 sons whose notes have been renewed after the same had became due, and not pro- 
 tested or renewed, with the names of individuals, parties to said renewals, whose 
 notes were under protest at the times sucli renewals were made; and also whether 
 such loans in each case were made by the Directors or otherwise, and by what au- 
 thority. 
 
 No. 22. 
 Bank of the United States, Mai/ 1, 1834. 
 Sir: I am directed by the Conmiittcc of the Board of Directors of the Bank of the 
 • United States to acknowledge your letter of the 29th of April, and the copies cn- 
 rclosed with it of various resolutions of the Committee of the House of llepresen- 
 tu'liv'es of the United States. 
 
 The Committee deem it proper to lay your communication before the Board, and 
 would, for that jiurpose, have convened a special meeting before this time, but that 
 .it seemed to tlicm necessary, first, to collect certain materials of information for 
 the Board. This work they caused to bo begun as soon as they could; it will 
 be completed at tho earliest moment possible, so as to be laid before the Board to- 
 morrow, after which no time will be lost in communicating to you their decision. 
 -With groat respect, I have the honor to be, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation.
 
 80 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 No. 23. 
 
 Bank of the United States, May 2, 1834. 
 
 Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge your communication of the 1st instant, 
 together with sundry copies of resolutions which accompanied it. They have 
 been laid before the Committee and before the Board. 
 
 The Committee this morning also laid before the Board your communication of 
 the 29th ult., and the copies of resolutions accompanying it; and they have di- 
 rected me to inform you, that as the resolutions of the 1st instant will involve the 
 necessity of a similar inquiry as those of the 29th ult., the Board do not deem it 
 expedient to decide upon the one until they are prepared to decide upon the other. 
 As soon as this decision is made, it will be communicated to you. 
 With great respect, «fec. 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 No. 24. 
 
 North American Hotel, Committee Room, May 2, 1834. 
 
 Sir: In compliance with the directions of the Committee of Investigation, I 
 have the honor to enclose to you the accompanying copies of resolutions; and re- 
 main, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, Chairman. 
 To John Sergeant, Esq., 
 
 Chairman of Committee of Directors of Bank of the U. S. 
 
 No. 25. 
 [Enclosed in foregoing.] 
 
 ( • Committee Room, (North American Hotel,) May 2, 1834. 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the Bank of the United States 
 be required to submit for the inspection of this Committee, at their committee 
 room at the North American Hotel, on Saturday, the 3d day of May instant, at 
 11 o'clock, A. M., the book or books which contain the minutes of the proceed- 
 ings of the Board of Directors, at their several sittings on the 1st and 8th days of 
 October in the year 1833, and from the 21st day of April, 1834, to this day. 
 
 Also, the report of a Committee of the Board, rejecting a proposition to trans- 
 mit a copy of certain resolutions adopted on the 1st day of October, 1833, to the 
 Secretary of the Treasury of the United States; also, the expense book of the Bank, 
 and the vouchers for expenses paid or incurred by said Bank, since the 1st of 
 January, 1832. 
 
 A true copy: RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 No. 26. 
 
 Committee Room, (North American Hotel,) 3Iay 2, 1834. 
 Whereas this Committee, sincerely desirous to conduct the inquiries, examina- 
 tions, and investigations which they have been required by the House of Repre- 
 sentatives to make, with fairness, impartiality, order, and despatch, have learned 
 with regret tliat the Directors of the Bank of the United States have declined 
 accommodating this Committee with a room in their banking house, for the ex-
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 81 
 
 elusive use and occupation of this Coaimittee: Therefore, Resolved, That the sit- 
 tings of tliis Committee shall be held in their room at the North American Hotels 
 in the city of Philadelphia, until otherwise ordered. 
 
 A truu copy: RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 No. 27. 
 Bank of the United States, May 3, 1834. 
 Sir: I am directed by the Committee of the Board to acknowledge the honor 
 of your letter of the 1st instant, covering sundry resolutions of the Committee of 
 Investigation; and in reply to that letter, as well as in further reply to your letter 
 of the 29th lilt., to enclose to you a copy of the resolution of the Board of Direc- 
 tors of the Bank of the United States, at a special meeting convened this morning 
 for the purpose of taking into consideration the several communications of the 
 Committee of Investigation, not heretofore answered. 
 
 With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman^ 
 The Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 No. 28. 
 [Enclosed in tlie foregoing.] 
 
 Resolved, That the Board do not feel themselves at liberty to comply with the 
 requirement of the resolutions of the Committee of Investigation of the 29th ulti- 
 mo and 1st instant, and do not tliink they are bound to do so, inasmuch as in re- 
 spect to a part of the papers called for, the effect would be the same as the surren- 
 der of their books and papers to a secret and ex-parte examination, which they 
 have already refused to consent to; and as to the other part they relate to mattei-s 
 over which the Board have no control; and if they could ovei'come these objec- 
 tions, and had the power over all the papers, still it would be impossible for them 
 to comply within any reasonable time, having ascertained, by a careful examina- 
 tion, that the copies and statements, called for by the resolutions of the 29th ult. 
 alone, would require the uninterrupted labor of two clerks for at least ten months 
 to make them out; and that the remaining resolutions, so far as they concern mat- 
 ters not beyond the reach of the Board, would require great additional time, which 
 they are not able exactly to compute, without causing what ihey fear would be 
 an inconvenient delay to the Committee of Investigation; and they take it for 
 granted that it would no more comport with the views of the Committee of Inves- 
 tigation to wait till so distant a period, than it would with the rights of the Bank 
 to have such a burthen imposed upon it. 
 
 No. 29. 
 Bank of the United States, May S 1834. 
 Sir: I am directed by the Committee of the Board to acknowledge the honor of 
 your letter of the 2d instant, covering copies of two resolutions of the Committee 
 of Investigation, and to inibrm you that a special meeting of the Board was called 
 at the earliest praclical)le hour this morning, that there miglit be no disappoint- 
 ment or delay to the Committee of Investigation. The answer will be found m 
 the copies of resolutions, herewith transmitted by order of the Committee. 
 With great respect, 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation.
 
 S2 I Rep. No. 481. ] 
 
 No. 30. 
 [Enclosed in the foregoing'.] 
 
 Resolved, That the Board are not aware of having declineo to accommodate 
 the Committee of Investigation with the exclusive use and possession of a room in 
 the banking house, unless the Committee of Investigation so construe the early 
 and ready ofi'er of the room by the Board with the assertion of the right of the 
 Committee of the Board to be present at the examination and investigation of the 
 books and papers of the Bank, and to have the care and custody of the same; and 
 if such be the meaning of the Committee of Investigation, then the Board are 
 constrained to adhere to the ground, as they think of manifest right, taken in their 
 resolution of the 28th ultimo, namely, that " the Board cannot, consistently with 
 their sense of duty to the Bank, and of the obligations of the trust committed to 
 them, consent to give up the custody and possession of the books and papers of 
 the Bank, nor to permit them to be examined but in the presence of the Commit- 
 tee appointed by the Board. 
 
 Resolved, That, with every disposition on the part of the Board to conform to 
 the wishes of the Committee of Investigation, so far as it may be done without a 
 violation of the trust reposed in them, the Board cannot, nevertheless, consent to 
 let the books and papers of the Bank go out of their care and custody, nor out of 
 the banking house, which is their proper place of deposite; and, therefore, they 
 cannot comply with that part of the resolution of the Committee of Investigation 
 of the 2d instant, which requires that certain of the books and papers of the Bank be 
 sent to the North American Hotel this day at eleven o'clock, believing that this would 
 be contrary to their duty to the stockholders, and would transcend their lawful 
 power, as well as be liable to be deemed an abandonment of the right to be pre- 
 sent by themselves, or their committee or agents, at the examination and investi- 
 gation; inferring, in all these respects, a very grave responsibility, which the Board, 
 in their limited authority, do not think they can be reasonably required to assume. 
 
 No. 31. 
 
 Committee Room, Mai/ 5, 1834. 
 
 Str: By authority from the Committee of Investigation, I have the honor to 
 enclose to you the accompanying resolution; and to be, 
 
 With high respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS. 
 To John Sergkant, Esq., 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Directors of the U. S. Bank. 
 
 No. 32. 
 [Enclosed in the foregoing.] 
 
 Whereas the President and Directors of the Bank of the United States have 
 refused to submit certain of their books and proceedings to the inspection of this 
 Committee, at the Committee Room at the North American Hotel, as required in 
 the Committee's resolutioH of the 2d instant, but have declared that they are not 
 aware that they have declined to furnish this Committee a room in their banking 
 house, for its exclusive use and occupation, as expressed in the second resolution 
 of the 3d instant, and this Committee is earnestly desirous fully to execute the 
 resolution of the House of Representatives, and does not waive its right to inspect 
 the books of the Bank as required: therefore,
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 83 
 
 Resolved^ That ihis committee will repair to the banking house this day at one 
 •o'clock, to inspect such of the books called for in the resolution of the 28th of 
 April, 1834, and such other books as they may require to be produced; and that 
 Uie chairman inform the Committee of Directors of the Bank thereof. 
 
 A true copy: RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 No. 33. 
 
 South Fourth Street, No. 89, > 
 3Iay 5, 1834, 11^ A. M. ) 
 Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of this date, just now received. 
 It appears to me impracticable to bring together the Committee, and to make 
 the needful arrangements for their receiving you, and attending the investigation 
 and examination of the books and papers of the Bank, in conjunction with the 
 Committee of Investigation, by the time you mention. They will be re-assembled, 
 however, without unnecessary delay, and, I do not doubt, will notify to you the time 
 when they will be prepared to meet the Committee of Investigation, and act with 
 them in the investigation and examination — probably not later than some hour 
 to-morrow. 
 
 With great respect, I have the honor to be, your most obedient servant, 
 
 J. SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 No. 34. 
 
 North American Hotel, May 5, 1834. 
 
 Sir: Your unofficial communication has just been delivered to me. The 
 members of the Committee of Investigation separated this morning, after 
 adopting the resolution which I have had the honor to transmit to you, to reas- 
 semble again at one o'clock, to enter on the performance of their duty, at the 
 Bank. I have no authority to signify that this purpose will be changed by your 
 letter. 
 
 I take pleasure in adding, that I have no doubt the Committee will be pleased 
 to see any member of the Committee of Directors, at the hour appointed, at tho 
 Bank. 
 
 And am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS. 
 
 To John Sergeant, Esq., Chairman, S^c. 
 
 No. 35. 
 
 Ordered, That the Cashier of the Bank of the United States be, and he is hereby 
 requested and required, to submit for the inspection of the Commhtee, the minute 
 books containing the proceedings of the Board of Directors since the first day of 
 January, 1829. 
 
 No. 36. 
 
 Bank of the United States, May 5, 1834. 
 Sir: I have had the honor of receiving from you, personally, in my interview 
 with the Committee of Investigation, a resolution of the said Committee, in the 
 following words:
 
 84 [ Rep. No. 431. J 
 
 " Ordered, That the President of ihe Bank of the United States be requested 
 and required to submit to the Committee of Investigation the minute book con- 
 taining the proceedings of the Board of Directors of the Bank of the United 
 States; the expense account and vouchers for expenditure, under a resolution of 
 the Board, of the 30th of November, 1830." 
 
 In answer to tlie requisition, I have the honor to state that I have not the 
 custody of, nor control over, the books and papers mentioned in the resolution. 
 The general custody of the same is in the Board of Directors of the Bank, who, 
 by resolutions of the 24th and 28th ultimo, already communicated to the Com- 
 mittee of Investigation, appointed a Committee of Directors, for the purpose of 
 exhibiting these books and papers to the Committee of Investigation, and declared 
 that they could not permit them to be examined, except in the presence of the 
 said Committee of Directors. I am, therefore, unable to comply with the requi- 
 sition contained in the resolution. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, 
 
 N. BIDDLE, President. 
 
 Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 N. B. A reply, similar to the above, was addressed by the Cashier to the Chair- 
 man of the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 No. 37. 
 
 Bank of the United States, May 6, 1834. 
 
 Sm: In the absence of the Chairman of the Committee of the Board, owing tO' 
 a cause explained to you yesterday, I have the honor to send you herewith a copy 
 of the resolutions tlie Committee have adopted at a meeting this morning. 
 With great respect, I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 
 
 S. JAUDON, Caihier, 
 The Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of the House of Representatives. 
 
 No. 38. 
 [Enclosed in the foregoing.] 
 
 At a meeting of Directors held at the Bank on the 6th day of May, 1834, the 
 following resolutions were adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee of the Board will be prepared to receive the 
 Committee of the House of Representatives, at the banking house of the Bank of 
 the United States, to-morrow morning, the 7th instant, at eleven o'clock, then 
 and there to proceed in the execution of their duty, according to the requirement 
 of the charter, and in conformity with the instructions of the Board, as contained 
 in the several resolutions, copies of which iiave iieretofore been communicated to 
 the Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States, as the same 
 have been explained to be understood by this Committee; to which understanding 
 they continue to adhere. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing resolution be transmitted by the Cashier 
 to the Hon. Francis Thomas, chairman of the Committee of Investigation, in reply 
 to his communication of yesterday to the Chairman of this Committee.
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 85 
 
 No. 39. 
 O May 7, 1834. 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee will proceed to examine into the truth of the 
 statement made by the Government Directors to the President of the United 
 States and to Congress, and for that purpose will this day call for the production, 
 for inspection, of the minute books, containing the proceedings of the Directors of 
 the Bank, and the expense books, and vouchers for expenses incurred. 
 
 True copy: EDWARD D. INGRAHAM, 
 
 Secretary of Committee of Jmwstigation. 
 
 No. 40. 
 
 May 7, 1834. 
 
 The Chairman of the Committee of the Board read to the Committee of Inves- 
 tigation the following preamble and resolution: 
 
 Whereas it appears from the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 
 United States appointing the Committee of Investigation, that two distinct inqui- 
 ries were contemplated, one of them directed to ascertain whether the charter had 
 been violated, and limited to the acts of the corporation; and the other so very 
 general and indefinite, as to make it difficult, if not impossible, to say whether it 
 has any limits at all, either as to the matters to be inquired into or the mode of 
 pursuing the inquiry: And whereas it appears, from calls made by the Committee 
 of Investigation, that they have proposed a very wide range, embracing, among 
 other things, an extensive examination of the acts, transactions, accounts, and 
 letters of individuals, and thus instituting a kind of general search, which is the 
 more objectionable, because, if it have any purpose at all, it must be to criminate 
 those individuals as well as the Bank; and if it have not this purpose, it is without 
 any assignable object, and would be an injurious invasion of private interests: 
 And whereas, under these circumstances, it is the duty of the Committee, by all 
 lawful means, to protect the rights and sacred confidence intrusted to their keep- 
 ing, and to yield nothing, by consent, which cannot be legally demanded from 
 them: And whereas, after careful and anxious consideration, they are of opinioa 
 that the inquiry can only be rightfully extended to alleged violations of the char- 
 ter, and this inquiry ought to be conducted according to some certain principles 
 and rules: therefore. 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee of Investigation be respectfully required, when 
 they ask for books and paj)ers, to state specifically, in writing, the purposes for 
 •which they are proposed to be inspected; and if it be to establish a violation of 
 the charter, then to state specifically, in writing, what are the alleged or supposed 
 violations of charter to which the evidence is alleged or supposed to be appli- 
 cable. 
 
 Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Committee, it would very much conduce 
 to the purposes of justice, as well as to the convenience of all concerned, if the 
 Committee of Investigation would furnish a specification of all the charges intended 
 to be inquired into, and proceed with them in order as stated. 
 
 No. 41. 
 
 Whereas this Committee have, by resolutions severally communicated to the 
 President and Directors of the Bank of the United States, declared that, in dis- 
 charging the duties confided to them by the House of Representatives, they 
 claimed, on their responsibility to that House and to their constituents, to regulate 
 their proceedings, to judge of the extent of their powers and duties for themselves; 
 that they are not charged with the duty of criminating the Bank, its directors,^ c
 
 86 f Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 others, but simply to inquire, amongst other things, whether such prosecution, in 
 legal form, shall be instituted; and that, in so doing, they would^fford to every 
 person, who might appear to be implicated by their examinations, full and fair- 
 opportunity of explanation and defence: 
 
 Resolved., therefore., That, in performing the duty of " inspecting the books and 
 examining into the proceedings of the Bank," the Committee cannot rightfully be 
 " required," and, from the nature of their duties cannot comply with a request, to 
 state specifically, in writing, the purposes for which they are proposed to be 
 inspected. 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee cannot comply with a request or requisition to 
 specify what are the supposed violations of charter, because they are not con- 
 ducting a prosecution, but simply inquiring whether one shall be instituted. 
 
 True copy: 
 
 EDW. D. INGRAHAM, 
 
 May 7, 1834. Sec. Com. oj Investigation. 
 
 1. Mr. Mason called for the production of the minute books containing the pro- 
 ceedings of the Board of Directors from the 1st of September, 1832, to the pre- 
 sent date. 
 
 2. The Chairman requires that the expense book of the Bank, with the vouch- 
 ers, showing the expenses of the Bank incurred under resolution of the 30th No- 
 vember, 1830, be submitted to the inspection of the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 3. Mr. Muhlenberg desired that the books showing the account of with 
 
 the Bank of the United States, with the notes and papers explanatory of sucli 
 account, from the 1st day of January, 1832, may be submitted to the inspection 
 of the Committee. 
 
 True copv: 
 
 EDW. D. INGRAHAM, 
 May 7, 1834. Sec. Coin, of Investigation. 
 
 4. Resolved, That the Committee of Directors be, and they are hereby, re- 
 quested and required to submit, for the inspection of this Committee, the credit 
 books and pay lists of the Bank, to enable this Committee to ascertain " whether 
 it has used its corporate powers or money to control the press, to interfere in 
 politics, or influence elections." 
 
 True copy: 
 
 EDW. D. INGRAHAM, 
 May 7, 1834. Sec. Coin, of Investigation.. 
 
 5. Resolved, That the Committee of Directors be requested and required tO" 
 submit, for the inspection of this Committee, the minute books of the Bank, toge- 
 ther with the correspondence, journals, and other memorandums of the proceedings 
 of the Committees of Exchange, on the state of the Bank, and on the Offices, that 
 this Committee may be enabled to ascertain whether the Bank has had any agency ;,, 
 through its management or money, in producing the [)reseni pressure. 
 
 True copy: 
 
 EDW. D. INGRAHAM, 
 
 May 7, 1834. Sec. Corn, of Investigation. 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee of Directors be, and they are hereby, requested 
 and required to submit, for the inspection of this Committee^ the minute books
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. J 87 
 
 containing the proceedings of the Board of Directors, together with the corre- 
 spondence, journals of the President of the Bank, the Exchange Committee, thi 
 Committee on the state of the Bank, and the Committee on the Offices, that this, 
 Committee may be enabled to judge whether the Board of Directors have violated 
 the charter of the Bank, by authorizing, permitting, or sanctioning the exercise of 
 improper and illegal powers by those committees or by the President of the Bank. 
 
 True copy: 
 
 EDW. D. INGRAHAM, 
 May 7, 1834. S^<^- Com. of Investigation. 
 
 No. 42. 
 
 Bank of the United States, Marj 8, 1834. 
 
 Sir: I have the honor to enclose to you a copy of a resolution of the Committee 
 of the Board, and to be. 
 
 With great respect, your most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 The Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman Com. of Investigation. 
 
 No. 43. 
 [Enclosed m the foregoing.] 
 
 Resolved, That, after full deliberation, and with every feeling of respect for 
 the House of Representatives, and for the Committee appointed by them, and 
 with a firm conviction that they have nothing to fear from scrutiny of the affairs 
 of the Bank, however severe, the Committee of the Board arc constrained to 
 adhere to the resolutions yesterday handed to the Committee of Investigation, and 
 to decline complying with the calls heretofore made upon them, in any other 
 manner than is therein laid down; believing this to be their duty, from which they 
 are not at liberty to depart. 
 
 No. 44. 
 
 Whereas at a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bank of the 
 United States, held at the Bank on the 24th of April, in this present year, a re- 
 solution was adopted and communicated to the Committee of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, by which a "Committee of seven members was appointed" to receive 
 the Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States, and to offer 
 for their inspection such books and papers of the Bank as may be necessary to 
 exhibit the proceedings of the corporation, according to the requirement of the 
 charter:" 
 
 And whereas, at a room in the banking house, on the 7th day of May instant, 
 the Committee of the House of Representatives, required of the Committee of the 
 Board of Directors the production of certain books and papers of the Bank of the 
 United States by the Committee of the House of Representatives to be then and 
 there inspected, as set forth in the following resolutions: 
 
 " Ordered, That the minute book, containing the proceedings of the Board of 
 Directors from the 30th September, 1830, to this date. May 7, 1834, be produced 
 for inspection." 
 
 " Ordered, That the books showing the accounts of , of , 
 
 with the Bank of the United States, with the notes and papers explanatory of 
 such account, from the 1st day of January, 1832, to this day, be submitted to the 
 inspection of the Committee."
 
 B8 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 , " Ordered, That the expense book of the Bank, with the vouchers showing the 
 expenses of the Bank incurred under a resolution of tlie 30th of November, 1830, 
 be submitted to tlie inspection of the Committee of Investigation." 
 
 '■'■ Ordered, That the Committee of Directors be requested and required to sub- 
 mit, for the inspection of this Conimhtee, the minute books of the Bank, together 
 with the correspondence, journals, and other memorandums of the proceedings of 
 the Committee of Exchange on the state of the Bank, and on the Offices, that this 
 committee may be enabled to ascertain whether the Bank has had any agency, 
 through its management or money, in producing the present pressure." 
 
 " Ordered, That the Committee of Directors be, and they are hereby, requested 
 and required to submit, for the inspection of this Committee, the minute books 
 containing the proceedings of the Board of Directors, together with the corre- 
 spondence, journals of the President of the Bank, the Exchange Committee, the 
 Committee on the state of the Bank, and the Committee on the Offices, that this 
 Committee may be enabled to judge whether the Board of Directors have violated 
 the charter o'l the Bank, by authorizing, permitting, or sanctioning the exercise of 
 improper and illegal powers by those Committees, or by the President of the Bank." 
 
 And as preliminary to a reply, received from the Committee of the Board of 
 Directors, a preamble and resolutions as follows: 
 
 " Whereas it appears from the resolution of the House of Representatives of 
 the United States appointing the Committee of Investigation, that two distinct in- 
 quiries were contemplated; one of them directed to ascertain whether the charter 
 had been violated and limited to the acts of the corporation, and the other so very ge- 
 neral and indefinite, as to make it ditficult,if not impossible, to say whether it has any 
 limits at all, either as to the matters to be'inquired into, or the mode of pursuing the in- 
 quiry: and whereas it appears from calls made by the Committee of Investi- 
 gation, that they have proposed a very wide range, embracing, among other things, 
 an extensive examination of the acts, transactions, accounts, and letters of individuals, 
 and thus insthuting a kind of general search, which is the more objectionable, because 
 if it have any purpose at all, it must be to criminate those individuals as well as 
 the Bank; and if it have not this purpose, it is without any assignable object, and 
 would be an Injurious invasion of private interests; and whereas, under these 
 circumstances, it is the duty of this Committee, by all lawful means, to protect the 
 rights and sacred confidence intrusted to their keeping, and to yield nothing by 
 consent which cannot legally be demanded from them: and whereas, after careful 
 and anxious consideration, they are of opinion that the inquiry can only be right- 
 fully extended to alleged violations of the charter, and this inquiry ought to be 
 conducted according to some certain principles and rules: therefore, 
 
 " Resolved, That the Committee of Investigation be respectfully required, when 
 they ask for books and papers, to state specifically, in writing, the purposes for 
 which they are proposed to be inspected; and, if it be to establish a violation of 
 the charter, then to state specifically, in writing, what are the alleged or supposed 
 violations of charter to which the evidence is alleged or supposed to apply. 
 
 ''Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Committee, it would very much conduce 
 to the purposes of justice, as well as to the convenience of all concerned, if the 
 Committee of Investigation would furnish a specification of all the charges intend- 
 ed to be inijuired into, and proceed with them in order as stated." 
 
 Which being considered, was replied to by this Committee, as follows: 
 
 " Whereas this Committee have, by resolutions, severally communicated to the 
 President and Directors of the Bank of the United States, declared that, in dis- 
 charging the duties confided to them by the House of Representatives, they 
 claimed, on their responsibility to that House and their constituents, to regulate 
 their proceedings, to judge of the extent of their powers and duties for them- 
 selves; that they are not charged with the duty of criminating the Bank, its direct-
 
 [ Rep. No 481. ] 89 
 
 ors, or others; but simply to inquire, amongst other things, whether such prosecu- 
 tion, in legal form, shall be instituted; and that, in so doing, they would afford to 
 every person who might appear to be implicated by their examinations full and 
 fair opportunity of explanation and defence. 
 
 Resolved, therefore, That in performing the duty of " inspecting the books, and 
 examining into the proceedings of the Bank," the Committee cannot rightfully be 
 " required," and, from the nature of their duties, cannot comply with a request, to 
 «tate specifically, in writing, the purposes for which they are proposed to be in- 
 spected. 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee cannot comply with a request, or requisition, to 
 specify what are the supposed violations of charter, because they are not conduct- 
 ing a prosecution, but simply inquiring whether one ' " ' r--^:fi^"^ 
 
 And a specific answer requested. 
 
 That, in answer to these several calls, the Commits. ■ received the foRu 
 
 Bank U. :>., May rf, 1834. 
 
 Sir: I have the honor to enclose to you a copy o a resolution of the Committee 
 of the Board, and to be, with great respect. 
 
 Your most ot 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, Chairman. 
 To the Hon. Francis Thomas, 
 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 Resolved, That, after full deliberation, and with every feeling of respect for the 
 House of Representatives, and for the Committee appointed by them, and with a 
 firm conviction that they have nothing to fear from scrutiny of the afl'airs of the 
 Bank, however severe, the Committee of the Board are constrained to adhere to 
 the resolution yesterday handed to the Committee of Investigation, and to decline 
 complying with the calls heretofore made upon them, in any other manner than is 
 therein laid down, beheving this to be their duty, from which they are not at 
 liberty to depart. 
 
 And whereas this Committee does not feel authorized to consider the act of the 
 Committee of the Board of Directors, in thus refusing to submit the books and 
 papers called for, to the inspection of the Committee of the House of Represen- 
 tatives, as within the authority conferred on their Committee by the Board of 
 Directors, and thus the act of the corporation: therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the chairman be requested to communicate this resolution to 
 the President of the Bank of the United States, and to ask that it may be sub- 
 mitted to the Board of Directors, and this Committee informed by the said Board 
 whether the refusal of the Committee aforesaid is to be regarded as the act of the 
 Board, or done by its authority. 
 
 Resolved, That the Chairman be directed to transmit this resolution to the 
 President of the Bank of the United States. 
 
 North American Hotel, May 8, 1834. 
 
 Sir: I have the honor to enclose to you two resolutions which have been adopt- 
 ed by the Committee of Investigation, and to ask the favor of you to submit them 
 to the consideration of the Board of Directors at an early hour. 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, 
 Chairman of the Committee of Investigation. 
 Nicholas Biddle, Esq. 
 
 • President of the U. S. Bank. 
 12
 
 90 [ Rep. No. 481. J 
 
 No. 45. 
 
 Bank of the United States, May 9, 1834, 
 Sir: I had last evening the honor of receiving your letter dated " North American- 
 Hotel, May 8, 1834," accompanying a copy of two resolutions of the Committee 
 of Investigation. 
 
 These papers were submitted to the Board of Directors at their meeting this 
 morning, and I am instructed to transmit to you a copy of their proceedings thereoa. 
 This I accordingly do, with the assurance of the respect of 
 
 Yours, 
 
 N. BIDDLE, President 
 Vion- fv.ijMcrs 'I . .i i.=!, 
 
 ^' •>■""' ti/ mittee of Investigation, Philadelphia. 
 
 No. 46. 
 [Enclosed in the foregoing.] 
 
 Bank op the United States, May 9, 1834. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Directors, held this day, the following resolutions 
 were unanimously adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That the Board, having heard the report of the Committee appointed 
 on the 24th ultimo, upon the matters referred to them this morning, do fully ap- 
 prove and sanction the resolutions adopted by the Committee on the 7th and 8th 
 instant, and presented by them to the Committee of Investigation, which resolu- 
 tions are as follows: 
 
 Whereas it appears, from the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 
 United States, appointing the Committee of Investigation, that two distinct inquiries 
 were contemplated; one of them directed to ascertain whether the charter had been 
 violated, and limited to the acts of the corporation; and the other so very general 
 and indefinite, as to make it difficult, if not impossible, to say whether it has 
 any limits at all, either as to the matters to be inquired into, or the mode of pur- 
 suing the inquiry: and whereas it appears, from the calls made by the Committee 
 of Investigation, that they have proposed a very vvide range, embracing, among 
 other things, an extensive examination of the acts, tiansactions, accounts, and let- 
 ters of individuals, and thus instituting a kind of general search, which is the more 
 objectionable, because, if it have any purpose at all, it must be to criminate those 
 individuals as well as the Bank; and if it have not this purpose, it is without any 
 assignable object, and would be an injurious invasion of private interests: and 
 whereas, under these circumstances, it is the duty of this Committee, by all lawful 
 means, to protect the rights and sacred confidence entrusted to their keeping, and 
 to yield nothing by consent which cannot be legally demanded from them: and 
 whereas, after careful and anxious consideration, they are of opinion that the in- 
 quiry can be only rightfully extended to alleged violations of the charter, and 
 this inquiry ought to be conducted according to some certain principles and rules: 
 therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the Committee of Investigation be respectfully required, when 
 they ask for books and pa|)ers, to state specifically, in writing, the purposes for 
 which they are proposed to be inspected; and if it be to establish a violation of the 
 charter, then to state specificall}', in writing, what are the alleged or supposed 
 violations of charter to which the evidence is alleged or supposed to be ap- 
 plicable. 
 
 Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Committee, it would very much conduce 
 to the purposes of justice, as well as to the convenience of all concerned, if the
 
 [ Rep. No. 481. ] 91 
 
 Committee of Investigation would furnish a specification of all the charges in- 
 tended to be inquired into, and proceed with them in order as stated. 
 
 [Here follows the resolution of the 8th instant, inclosed in the letter of the Pre- 
 sident of the 8th instant to the Chairman of the Committee of Investigation.] 
 
 Resolved, That the President be requested to send a copy of the above resolu- 
 tion, duly certified, to the Chairman of the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 No. 47. 
 By authority of the House of Representatives n-f '^"' ^^-^'^i States. 
 
 To Benjamin S. Bonsall, 
 
 Marshal of the Eastern District of Pennsylvam 
 
 You are hereby commanded to summon Nichok die. presktent, Emauuel 
 
 Eyre, Matthew Newkirk, John Sergeant, Charles _.,uancey, John '^ Tlfv 
 John R. Neff, Ambrose White, Daniel W. Coxe, John Goddard, James 
 
 Lawrence Lewis, John Holmes, and William Piatt, diret*ur5 of i' 
 
 United States, to be and appear before the Commi-toe of ti;e H 
 sentatives of the United States, appointed on the 4 
 
 the purpose of ascertaining, as far as practicable, the tctuse ol the commercial em- 
 barrassment and distress complained of by numerous citizens of the United States, 
 in sundry memorials which have been presented to Congress at the present ses- 
 sion, and of inquiring whether the charter of the Bank of the United States has 
 been violated, and also what corruptions and abuses have existed in its manage- 
 ment; whether it has used its corporate power, or money, to control the press, 
 to interfere in politics, or influence elections; and whether it has had any 
 agency, through its management or money, in producing the existing pressure; 
 also, to inspect the books and examine into the proceedings of the said Bank, and 
 whether the provisions of the charter have been violated or not; and what abuses, 
 corruptions, or malpractices have existed in the management of said Bank; and 
 also to examine into the affairs of the said Bank and branches; and further, to 
 visit the principal Bank, or any of its branches, for the purpose of inspecting the 
 books, correspondence, accounts, and other papers connected with its management 
 or business," in their chamber in the North American Hotel, in the city of Philadel- 
 phia,and to bring witii them the credit books of said Bank, showing the indebted- 
 ness of individuals to said Bank on the tenth day of May instant, at the hour of 
 twelve o'clock, M. then and there to testify touching the matters of said inquiry, 
 and to submit said books to said Committee for inspection. 
 
 Herein fail not, and make return of this summons. 
 
 Witness the seal of the House of Representatives of the United States, 
 
 r -. and the signature of the Hon. Francis Thomas, Chairman of the said 
 
 '■' '^ Committee, at the city of Philadelphia, this ninth day of May, in the 
 year one tliousand eight hundred and thirty-four. 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS. 
 Attest: W. S. FRANKLIN, 
 
 Clerk House of Representatives U. S. 
 
 Marshal's Office Philadelphia, 3far/ 10th, 1834. 
 Served the widiin, on the individuals witiiin named, to wit: Nicholas Biddio, 
 Emanuel Eyre, Lawrence Lewis, Ambrose White, Daniel W. Coxe, John Holmes, 
 Charles Chauncey, John Goddard, John R. NelT, William Piatt, and Matthew 
 Newkirk, by handing a copy thereof to each of them, on Friday, the 9th instant; 
 and on James C. Fisher, John S. Henry, and John Sergeant, by handing a copy 
 thereof to each of them on the 10th da}' of May instant, between the hours of S 
 and 9, A. M. So answers, 
 
 BENJAMIN S. BONSALL, 
 Marshal Eastern District of Pennslyvania,
 
 92 [ Rep: No. 481. J 
 
 No. 48. 
 
 Tlie undersigned having been individually served by B. S. Bonsall, Esq, mar- 
 shal of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, with a copy of a process dated the 
 9th instant, by which he was commanded to summon them, by the following names 
 and descriptions, to wit: Nicholas Biddle, President, Emanuel Eyre, Matthew 
 Newkirk, John Sergeant, Charles Chauncey, John S. Henry, John R, Neff, Am- 
 brose White, Daniel W. Coxe, John Goddard, James C. Fisher, Lawrence Lewis, 
 John Holmes, and William Piatt, Directors of the Bank of the United Slates, to 
 ^ * Committee of the House of Representatives of the 
 
 ^ , . le 4th day of April, 1834, in their chamber in the 
 
 North American le city of Philadelphia, and to bring with them the 
 
 err, lit V..- i. . - : . ^]^g 20th day of May instant, at the hour of twelve 
 
 testify touching the matters of said inquiry, and to 
 
 nmittee for inspection, have consulted together, that 
 
 judgment of each other as to the course they were 
 
 ve concurred, each for himself, in the conclusion for 
 
 i ual conduct, which will now be stated; and, to avoid 
 
 rsy, have reduced their answers to writing, signed 
 with their names, and herewith respectfully presented, each for himself, as follows: 
 
 1. Without waiving any objection there may be to the legality of the said pro- 
 cess, or the service, (which is expressly reserved,) we deem it most consistent with 
 the respect we wish upon all occasions to acknowledge to be due to the Commit- 
 tee of the House of Representatives of the United States, to attend upon them in 
 person, and accordingly do so attend, to manifest our respect, but not to admit 
 any obligation. 
 
 2. We do not produce the books specified in the paper before mentioned, that 
 is to say, " the credit books of said Bank, showing the indebtedness of individuals 
 to said Bank," because they are not in the custody of either of us, but, as has here- 
 tofore been stated, of the Board, whose views upon this subject, we would take 
 occasion to say, have already been respectfully communicated to the Committee of 
 Investigation. 
 
 3. We do not know whether it was the intention of the Committee of Investi- 
 gation to call upon either of us to testif}', or whether the object of the paper was 
 not simply to require us to produce " the credit books of said Bank, showing the 
 indebtedness of individuals to said Bank." But, to avoid unnecessary trouble to 
 the Committee, and in the spirit of frankness required by the respect that is due to 
 them, we have deemed it proper to consider tlie alternative first mentioned, and 
 each of us now says, for himself, that, considering the nature of the proceeding, 
 and the character of the inquiry, even as explained in the resolution of the Com- 
 mittee of Investigation of the 7th instant, and considering that, as corporators and 
 directors, we are parties to the proceeding, we do not consider ourselves bound to 
 testify, and therefore respectfully decline to do so. We are sure that the com- 
 mittee will duly estimate the sacrifice we make of personal feeling in thus decid- 
 ing, conscious as we are that we have no knowledge, which, if a necessary regard 
 to our duties and the rights of others permitted, we would not willingly expose 
 without reserve. 
 
 N. BIDDLE, A. WHITE, 
 
 M. EYRE, D. W. COXE, 
 
 M. NEWKIRK, JOHN GODDARD, 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, JAMES C. FISHER, 
 CHARLES CHAUNCEY, LAWRENCE LEWIS, 
 
 JOHN S. HENRY, JOHN HOLMES, 
 
 JOHN R. NEFF, WILLIAM PLATT. 
 Philadelphia.
 
 f Rep. No. 481. J 93 
 
 No. 49. 
 
 North American Hotel, May 10, 1834. 
 Sir : I have the honor to transmit to you, by direction of the Committee of Inves- 
 tigation, two resolutions, which you will find enclosed. 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 With great respect, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 FRANCIS THOMAS, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 To John Sergeant, Esq., Chairman of the 
 
 Committee of the Board of Direi 
 
 Whereas, resolutions have been adopted by this ( nmittee into which the aames 
 of private individuals were necessarily introduced, Committee ot 
 
 might more readily know where the accounts or j -^'hich 'yere c- 
 
 be examined confidentially, were to be found: ; :■. — ..ovei ueen 
 
 the intention of this Committee to publish such resolutions, unless, after such confi- 
 dential examination, it should appear that the duty of the Committee, under its reso- 
 lution of inquiry, required it: and whereas the Directors of the Bank have 
 declined to produce the accounts thus called for, and this Committee is unwilling to 
 excite suspicions against any one which they have not the means either to justify 
 or remove, and there is no longer necessity for such injunction of confidence: 
 therefore. 
 
 Resolved, That the members of this Committee be, and they are, released from 
 the injunction which has been imposed, to consider confidential their journal and 
 proceedings, except such parts thereof where the names of private individuals ap- 
 pear. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolution be forwarded 
 to the Committee of Directors. 
 
 True copy: 
 
 EDWD. D. INGRAHAM, 
 Secretary to the Committee of Investigation. 
 
 WthMay, 1834. 
 
 Committee Room, North American Hotel, ) 
 
 10th May, 1834. ) 
 Resolved, That when this Committee adjourn to-day, they adjourn to meet in 
 the City of Washington, on Thursday, the i5th of May, 1834, atlO o'clock, A. M. 
 True copy: EDWD. D. INGRAHAM, 
 
 Secretary to the Committee of Investigation.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 MAR3 195S 
 
 ^1967 
 
 
 NOV 31969 
 8lW 
 
 jjKt: 
 
 DEC 2 3 ^^^ 
 
 
 Foriu L-9 
 
 :;i)»i-], '42(^5111) 
 
 UNWERSITV of CALirUKNiA 
 
 aT 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 LIBRAKY
 
 3 ^158 
 
 07 758 
 
 5777 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACIUTY
 
 ■'^ip>