transactions. If the Postmaster General were not to control and fix the times of the departures and arrivals of the mails, a derangement and disorganization would ensue, the evil effects of which could not be calculated. If two hours' delay should take place between this and Baltimore, the mail of one day would be lost to all post offices east and north, not only on the main line, but on all the dependants or lateral mail lines; and the same consequences would follow south and west, upon a failure on the great southern line. This proves, said Mr. G., that you or the Post Office Department must have the control of the railroads, as to the times of departure and arrival of the mails. Besides, the mails had to be delayed in some of the offices, for short periods, to be distributed and exchanged, and in such case the managers of engines and cars must wait, or there would be failures; and when the Post Office Department was in controversy with these companies, they will intentionally produce those failures. Besides, our stipulation in a contract should be, in case of injury to an engine carrying the mail, the first that could be had should be taken, if it stopped the transportation cars. Upon an examination of all the plans and suggestions he had heard, he could see no plan so practicable as that contained in the bill, by which to secure the advantages of the railroads for the transportation of the mail; besides all collision and irritation, between this Government and the States, and their incorporated companies, will be avoided. He was, in the general, as much opposed to monopolies and corporations as any one; but here were State charters, granted by State Legislatures competent to grant them; and we had no power over them, except that which might arise from the authority in the constitution to establish post roads. Was there, then, any wisdom in having a controversy with these companies, when we could, at a reasonable price, procure valuable and indispensable services from them, and change them into agents of great public benefit? So strong was his conviction of the great utility of these railroads as a means of defending the country, that, so soon as a reasonable number of fortifications should be erected, and the principal roads now projected should be completed, he should consider this country perfectly secured against foreign invasion. Ten thousand men, with their arms, could be brought from Baltimore to this place in three hours; the militia, from the whole interior east of the Allegany mountains, could be placed on the seacoasts in two or three days; the physical strength of Philadelphia could be transferred to Baltimore or New York in a few hours, and each of these cities could be brought to the relief of Philadelphia, if needed, in the same period of time. Should the two great routes in the western country, which had been projected under very favorable auspices, be effected, New Orleans would never again be in danger. If the road from New Orleans to Nashville were in operation, in three days men could be sent from the latter to the former place; they could be sent from the most populous parts of Mississippi in half the time. If the road from Charleston to Cincinnati should be completed, the militia of the back country, even embracing a portion of Tennessee, could be transferred to Charleston in less than forty-eight hours in case of an in vasion. The advantages of these railroads to the Government were too apparent to require further illustration. What objections could be urged? It could not be objected that State rights were invaded. According to the views of the strictest sect of State rights men, here was no attempt at jurisdiction. The States and their incorporations retained all the power over the roads; this Government did not become a partner, nor had it any control VOL. XII.-76 [SENATE. in any manner over them. It contracts with the company to receive the mail at a given time and to deliver it at a certain place before or at a time specified in the contract, in the same way that it now contracted with an individual who was to transport it in stages or coaches. The friends of internal improvement by the general Government could not say that this measure conflicted with their principles. It neither affirmed nor denied them. It was free from the controversy growing out of that subject. It would afford incidental aid to the construction of railroads, but, at the same time, did not bring up the disputed questions which had divided the people of the country. Without examination, it might be apprehended that the scheme would involve the Government in the concerns of these companies. Not so, (said Mr. G.;) no money is to be advanced until the road, or some important section of it, is in actual use, and then only for that part of it which is completed. No visionary schemes would be embarked in by the Government, but it would proceed on absolute certainties. This measure was recommended by its equal operation and beneficial effects in all the States. Every State was now engaged in constructing, and would have railroads passing through them. In a short time all would have the benefits of these contracts extended to them. It might be apprehended that the Government might lose the money advanced by a failure of the company. This was very improbable. It was not to be expected that Congress would make any contract until it had well examined the ability of the company, its connexion with the State Government in which the road was located, the importance of the road itself, in relation to the points it connected, and those through which it passed. Further, a lien was to be had upon the road itself, and every kind of property appurtenant to it; and in case of a failure to comply with the contract, proceedings were to take place to subject the whole to the payment of the money advanced by the Government. If a company should fail, and proceedings be instituted against them, the general Government ought not (and he was willing so to provide) to become the purchaser. If the road should be of value, other purchasers would come forward and buy it; and the property on which the lien existed would always be suffi cient to secure the Government. For no money was to be advanced except the road should be finished, or a section of it sufficiently important for the transportation of the mail thereon. Upon what principle were these contracts to be made? This was a matter for the decision of others, and not his. He should himself be willing that a fair compensation should be fixed on for the transportation of the mail and other public property. Then advance a sum which would produce an interest, the amount of the yearly compensation, making a reasonable addition for increased expedition. After some further general remarks, Mr. G. said it was his design, at the proper time, to associate in the bill the Secretary of War with the Postmaster General, as the provisions of the bill appertained to the War as well as Post Office Department. Mr. WEBSTER adverted to two resolutions he had presented at an early period of the session on this subject, and would have brought the matter forward at an earlier day, had it not been for the position in which he stood here as the friend of the land bill. If this bill could be brought in competition with the land bill, he would give that bill the preference; but if there was, in his opinion, money enough in the treasury to meet both objects, he was disposed to support this measure, no matter what party was for or against it, and concurred in the views of the Senator from Tennessee, [Mr. GRUNDY.] It was their bounden duty to relieve the Mr. BUCHANAN said he had formed no decided opinion as to whether he should finally vote for this bill or not. As it had been taken up, at the present time, merely for the purpose of presenting the subject to the Senate, and not for decisive action, he would suggest some considerations which might or might not be entitled to weight. They would at least serve to direct the attention of gentlemen to the subject. [APRIL 18, 1836, Now, he would ask whether this bill did not provide for a system of internal improvement. Railroads are becoming extremely common throughout the United States. There would soon be as many of them as there had been of turnpike roads a few years ago. In Pennsylvania, he was happy to say, they were extending very rapidly over the State. He believed that a considerable number of new charters had been granted at the last session of the Legislature. There was scarcely one of these railroads on which the mail would not and ought not to be carried. This bill, then, contained an authority to the Postmaster General to enter into contracts with all these railroad companies, subject to the approbation of Congress, and to pay them in advance, according to the admission of the Senator from Tennessee, [Mr. GRUNDY,] a principal sum which would yield an annual interest equal to the annual expense of transporting the mail over them, as well as the troops and military stores of the United States. You thus make the United States the creditor of all these companies, and form an intimate connexion between them and the Government. This connexion would give us an undue influence over these companies. It would be a direct application of our money to the construction of internal improvements. It is true we are not to pay till a section of the road on which the mail may be carried is completed; but we make contracts in advance, and thus enable these companies, out of our means, to prosecute their work. No man, however clear-sighted he might be, could anticipate, with any degree of accuracy, either the sums to be expended or the political consequences of connecting the Government of the United States, in the manner proposed by this bill, with the corporations which have been or may be created by the different States, for the construction of railroads. Sir, said Mr. B., why should we part with the principal sum? Why should we take the money out of the public treasury, and place it in the hands of these companies? Would it not be better to pay them annually than to make them our debtors for such large deposites? Mr. B. freely admitted that we must obtain the use of these railroads, by some means or other, for the transportation of the mail. If no other mode could be devised of accomplishing this purpose, and if this bill could be amended so as to obviate some of his chief obHejections, he might possibly vote for it; but if he should do so, he would still consider it a choice between two very great evils. He had never read the bill until this morning. wished to vote for it if he could; but serious difficulties presented themselves to his mind. In his opinion no constitutional objection existed against the first two sections of the bill. He believed that Congress possessed the power of appropriating money for the construction of roads and canals. This power had very often been exercised by a direct application of money, and often by a subscription of stock. Beyond the power of appro priation he thought we had no right to proceed. We could not, without violating the constitution, exercise any jurisdiction or assert any sovereign power over these roads and canals. treme cases. Whilst he conceded the right of Congress to appropriate money for the construction of roads and canals of a national character, experience had taught him that it was inexpedient to exercise this power, unless in exHe was against extending the powers of this Government, when it could possibly be avoided. He never wished the people of the States to look to Congress for the means of making these improvements. It was a corrupting system, and one calculated to give this Government a vast and dangerous influence. Besides, constituted as Congress was, it would be one of the very worst boards of internal improvement in the world. We should squander the public money, and be very often mistaken as to the value of the objects on which it was to be expended. Again, (said Mr. B.,) suppose any of these corporations should fail to carry the mail according to their contract, what is your remedy? They have all your money in their hands in the first instance, and you would find difficulties almost insurmountable in recovering it back. In many instances you might be compelled to purchase these roads under your lien; and what would you do with them after they came into your possession? For the sake of the argument, suppose the United States to be but mere proprietors under the third section of this bill, without any power to exercise jurisdiction, what would then be the consequence? You would succeed to the corporate duties as well as the corporate rights of those companies, and this Government would be compelled to carry passengers, and their baggage, and merchandise, along those roads, or else forfeit the charter. This would be placing us in a most awkward and embarrassing position. He would make another suggestion. Railroads were yet but in their infancy. Within ten years great improvements had been made upon them. It was but a few years since engineers sought for a level as near as it could be obtained, and did not so much regard the number of curvatures in the road. At present, straightness was a principal object, and if this could be obtained, an ascent of forty, fifty, and even sixty feet in a mile, was not regarded as a serious obstacle. The genius and enterprise of our citizens were such, he had no doubt, that other essential improvements in the construction of railroads would soon be discovered. Under the provisions of this bill you contract in perpetuity with existing companies. You are bound to them whilst they carry your mail according to their original contract. You can make no change without forfeiting your whole advance. You thus deprive yourselves of the power of advancing with the progress of the age, and having your mail carried in the most rapid mode. There will be many new railroads running nearly parallel with old ones between the same points. Under charters already granted by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, such would be the effect between the Susquehanna and York. der this bill, you will contract with the proprietors of the railroad which may be constructed, and then your power will end, without a forfeiture of the whole principal sum. It would be much better, and in the end much cheaper, to limit your contracts to a few years, even if the annual cost should be considerably greater than the interest of the money which you propose to advance. Un Mr. B. said he would make one other suggestion. He took it for granted that some disposition would be made of our surplus revenue during the present session. If either the bill to distribute the proceeds of the public lands among the States, or a bill for loaning the surplus in the treasury to the States, without interest, (and such a measure he understood was now in agitation,) should pass, it would be easy to annex such conditions, either to the one or the other, as would secure the transportation of the mail, and of the troops and military stores of the United States, over all the railroads belonging to the different States, and over all the railroads for the construction of which charters of incorporation might be granted by them hereafter. If no other mode can be devised of accomplishing the same object, and if this bill should be so amended as to do away the very great objections which existed against it, in its present form, it should receive his support. For the present, however, he must be permitted to withhold his assent from it. Mr. CALHOUN admitted that, if something was not done, the transmission of intelligence would be transferred from the general Government to the railroad corporations. He thought, with the gentleman from Pennsylvania, there were great objections to this bill. He saw very clearly, if they commenced this system, that there was great danger of its ultimately ending in a system of internal improvements. There was no knowing the extent to which these contracts would be carried; and there was also a great difficulty in fixing what would be an adequate compensation. He would mention another difficulty that could not well be guarded against. So long as it should be the interest of these companies to fulfil their contracts, they would do so; but when it became their interest not to fulfil them, and they failed to comply with their engagements, there was no remedy but a suit for the return of the funds advanced. Mr. WEBSTER said the remarks he had made were confined to the general object of the bill, and thought the details might be altered in regard to the perpetuity or limitation of contracts. He would, however, take it for granted that the power was given in the bill to have modified contracts. He was glad the Senator from South Carolina [Mr. CALHOUN] saw no constitutional objections, and had suggested difficulties which might be remedied. Mr. GRUNDY remarked that there was nothing in the bill about the duration of the contracts. The bill contained no such provision; because he knew that the [SENATE. charters of the railroad companies in many of the States were limited. He had now obtained his object in bringing the bill to the notice of the Senate. Neither he nor the committee supposed the bill was perfect; and they were obliged to gentlemen for any suggestions they thought proper to make. He hoped they would examine the subject further, and come to a conclusion to give it their support. Mr. CLAY said that his opinion, heretofore express ed, in regard to the power of the Government to construct roads, was unchanged. He had little doubt that this measure, if adopted, would end in a complete revival of the system of internal improvement. At present the Post Office sustained itself, but this bill proposed a new principle, an entire change; and the people would want to know whether some diminution of postage was not going to be had, as it was to be supported from the surplus funds of the treasury. He was struck with the spirit of speculation, both in England and in this country, in regard to railroads, and alluded to a paper he had read, (published in England,) giving an account of the various projects for railroads there; and from its corresponding tenor with publications here, would have supposed it to have been published in this country, did he not know the fact to be otherwise. He spoke of the rapidity with which subscriptions to railroad stock were filled up. Sometimes they were filled up in a few hours by persons who never meant to pay the stock, and A would sell his stock at an advance to B, and B at an advance to C, and so on lower down the alphabet; and it was a species of great speculation. He had heard this morning of one in contemplation from Smithfield to Albany, a distance of one hundred miles, called a grand scheme, and the stock was taken in a few hours. feared this measure of the Senator from Tennessee would operate as a stimulus to this system of fancy speculation, as it had been termed. Property had risen while money was depreciated, and more money wanted. The money lying in these deposite banks, and the want of confidence, and apprehension that this paper system must burst, and the hoarding up of hard money going on even by obscure individuals, to a great amount, might be added to the cause assigned by the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. WEBSTER] of the present state of the currency. If he (Mr. C.) had ten or fifteen thousand dollars, which, by the way, he had not, he should want to look out for some of this yellow or white money too. If this bill passed, owners of stock in these railroads would believe it was going to be valuable, and it would give rise to speculation. He Without expressing any opinion for or against this measure, it was clear that the Government must avail itself of the use of these roads in some way. In Pennsylvania and New York, railroads were becoming as numerous as common roads; and in those States where they had the most railroads they would get the most money; and therefore, according to the provisions of this bill, it would not be an equal apportionment of the money among the federal States; and in those States where assistance was in fact most needed, they would get the least. In regard to the Baltimore and Washington railroad, he had understood that, after paying to the State of Maryland the half dollar on each passenger, which he thought rather unjust, and other expenses, the whole amount divided among the stockholders was less than three hundred dollars. The bill granted no new power to the Post Office Department, and they ought not to hasten its passage. He thought, upon the whole, Congress would be a very bad board to examine into the nature of these contracts. Mr. DAVIS was in favor of the bill. It proposed nothing more than an inquiry by the authorized agents of the Government into the capacity of the railroad companies to perform the service required, and on their being satisfied as to these particulars, a conditional contract, to be ratified by Congress, with the approbation of the President. The bill, therefore, was sufficiently guarded; for if they could not trust Congress, the immediate representatives of the people, to make contracts, there was no human agency by which they could be made. Mr. MANGUM rose merely to suggest difficulties that occurred to him in relation to this bill. It took away the responsibility of the Post Office Department and transferred it to Congress, and was virtually establishing a system of internal improvement by the general Government. If it aided in any thing, it was those railroads now in progress. It authorized advances to enable their completion, which was essentially a system of internal improvement. The only difference between the parties in this country was, that one contended for State improvements by the States themselves, and the other for internal improvements under the denomination of national objects. It was resuscitating the old system of internal improvements in its worst form, and they could easily imagine the combination of associations with the Treasury, which might subsidize the whole community. The application of the principle would go to every one who raised a shovel full of earth in the construction of these roads. This was only one of the innumerable difficulties arising from the surplus revenue. Cases would occur where it would not be the interest of the United States, or of the company, to continue the use of these roads, and then they would be thrown upon our hands. Hundreds of thousands of dollars would be invested in these improvements; and he would prefer going directly into the system of internal improvement, as they would then be able to judge where it would lead to. He would prefer more time to look into this matter, and for the present had merely thrown out these suggestions as they had occurred to him. He was unwilling to proceed in this matter at all, and not merely because of his distrust of the Postmaster General or the supervision of Congress. He understood the object was to empower the Postmaster General to look a great way ahead, and make advantageous terms by advancing large sums of money. Many changes might take place within the period within which a contract for a long period might be made, which might lessen its advantages. The Postmaster General had a right to contract for four years now, and he apprehended, on the roads already finished, they would take no less for the transportation of the mail. He had no doubt, however, that these railroads would have to be resorted to for the transportation of the mail. This was an important matter, and ought not to be hastened. [APRIL 18, 1836. that the mails for these neglected places would still have to be kept up, though the mails were transported from one great town to another in the railroad cars. It was known that these railroad companies were instituted solely to their own convenience, without regard to political or any other considerations. Their cars run from one great point to another, without taking into view the intermediate points; while, in various parts of the United States, there were so many minor post offices, so near to each other, that it had been found necessary to establish a rule that the post offices should not be nearer than five miles to each other. These rail cars did not arrive at the maximum of their speed until some time after starting, and were obliged to restrain their speed for some time before stopping; consequently, if they should stop frequently, they would not, on the average, travel much faster than the ordinary mail. With respect to the length and breadth of this scheme, the Senator from Tennessee found it impossible yet to determine any thing like its boundaries, and that it was so impossible would be granted by any one who would cast his eyes over the map of the United States. By patronising one company, the hopes of various others would be excited, and active competition would be produced for the patronage of the Government to a great extent. There were at this time, in Missouri, projects for nearly three hundred miles of railroad. He mentioned this for the purpose of showing how numerous and how extensive these railroad projects had become; for if the business was carried so far in a State of the population and resources of Missouri, how much further would it be carried in States whose population and resources so greatly exceeded hers. If the scheme took effect in one place, it must pervade all the others. If other States got the patronage of the Government, Missouri would also make application for it, and so it would be with all the States, until they obtained their share. He thought, therefore, they could not see the boundaries of this scheme. The difficulties with regard to this measure appeared to him to be such that, like other gentlemen who had addressed the Senate on the subject, he was willing to hold it under consideration, without pledging himself as to the course he should take. He, for one, did not think they ought to surrender so quickly, and agree that they could not get along with the business of the country without the aid of these railroad companies. Certainly the speed of these cars was very great, but they had very different objects in view from the transmission of general intelligence. They must regulate their own hours of arrival and stopping; a circumstance wholly incompatible with the con. venience of the mails. It would be in vain for the Mr. GRUNDY said be wished the Senator from North Postmaster General to attempt to regulate this. Consid Carolina had read the report, and he would have under-erations affecting their own interests, and the conve stood the bill better. The bill proposed that money should be advanced in two cases only: one where the entire road was in operation, so that the mail could be on it, and the other, where an important section of the road was in operation. Then the right to carry the mails on them might be contracted for, but the contract must be approved by Congress. There could be no contract so as to produce the payment of the money before the corporations commenced performing the service. Mr. BENTON had made it his business to consider this proposition, and listen to what had been said with respect to it. But he was bound to say that he saw difficulties of many kinds surrounding this proposition; one of them would be the shifting of large burdens from the Post Office Department on the Treasury, while it, at the same time, threw additional burdens on it. These railroads were only carried from one great point to another, passing by the smaller towns and villages, without stopping long enough for the purposes of the mail, so nience of their passengers, would solely influence them. He could readily see that our common mail stages, loaded with a newspaper mail of wet sheets and nine pas. sengers inside, must travel slowly, yet some arrange ment might be made which would give sufficient speed to the transportation of the letters. For instance, by sending the letters first in horse mails to themselves, then the newspapers, and, lastly, the documents, the letters might, by sufficient relays of horses, travel as fast as the railroad cars; for although the speed might not be the same, for a given number of miles, yet taking into consideration the stoppage of the cars at different points for passengers, the average speed might be made nearly equal. He had understoood that great delays, by which passengers were subject to much inconvenience, had occurred on one of these railroads-the railroad from Baltimore to Wheeling. He had been told by gentlemen, who had recently travelled on that road, that the delays to which they had been subjected had been so vexatious that they had cause to regret that railroads had superseded the old mode of travel. Mr. B. replied to the argument that these railroads would be of great advantage in transporting the troops and munitions of war of the United States. Under the present arrangement of the War Department, he said, the expenses of the travel of the officers was much better regulated by allowing them so much per mile; and when war came, the Government could, under the provisions of the constitution, take one of these railroad cars for the transportation of its troops with the same ease that they could take an ox team. Let a war begin, and there was a spark of patriotism in the bosom of every man, which would induce those companies to offer the use of their railroads to the Government on reasonable terms; but if in any case that patriotism should be wanting, there was a provision in the constitution which would enable the officers of the Government to take these cars for the transportation of troops or munitions of war, as readily as they can take an ox cart. For the present (Mr. B. said) he would hold this measure under consideration. He saw many difficulties in the way, and he hoped that the friends of the bill would find some mode of getting over them. Mr. WEBSTER knew of no one instance of such fancy speculation as alluded to by the Senator from Kentucky, [Mr. CLAY,] of the first class selling to the second, and the second to the third, and so on; and he understood from the Senator from South Carolina that no such speculation existed in South Carolina. He be lieved these enterprises were connected with the public good, and ought to be encouraged. If there was a spirit of speculation abroad, and he rather thought there was, and also an excessive spirit of internal improvement, would not the same spirit exist, in case the land bill passed, in the distribution of the money among the States in which these improvements were going on, as existed now. Mr. W. made some corrections of his statement of the average amount of money per quarter in the treasury, when up before. After some remarks from Mr. LEIGH, the bill was laid on the table; and, on motion of Mr. PORTER, The Senate then adjourned. TUESDAY, APRIL 19. TRANSFER DRAFTS. Mr. EWING, of Ohio, offered the following resolution, and asked for its consideration: Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to inform the Senate what amount of moneys of the United States, received for public lands in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, and the Michigan Territory, has been, in pursuance of his instructions, transferred to banks in the castern cities, since the 30th of June, 1835; and that he designate the banks from and to which such transfers have been made; that he also inform the Senate whether any such transfers are now ordered; and whether any of the deposite banks in the above-named States or Territory have authority to direct what money shall be received for public lands in the districts for which they are the depositories. Mr. E. said he had received from several quarters a circular directed by one of the deposite banks in the State of Ohio to the other banks in that State, the extraordinary character of which had induced him to make the inquiries specified in the resolution, and asked that the circular may be read. CIRCULAR. CLINTON BANK OF COLUMBUS, April 1, 1836. SIR: The large amount of paper received from the [SENATE. land offices, and the difficulty and expense of converting it into funds receivable by the Treasury Department in the eastern cities, (whither nearly the whole amount is necessarily required to be transmitted,) will compel this institution in future to decline receiving through that channel the paper of all the banks of the State, other than the deposite banks, that will not consent to redeem the paper so received, by drafts on New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore, payable thirty days from date, at par! Permit me to inquire whether it is the wish of your institution that your paper shall be received upon these terms? Instances occur daily of eastern funds being converted, at a profit, into the paper of the local banks, which is paid into the land offices, and the burden of converting the paper again into eastern funds is thrown upon the institutions receiving the public deposites. You are aware that we have heretofore received the paper of all the banks of the State, without condition or discrimination. We regret that the rapid sale of the public domain, and the premium which it costs to convert such paper into the medium in which our remit tances are made, will not permit us to continue to do so. Be pleased to let us hear from you, in reply, as early as practicable. In the mean time we have directed the receivers who deposite here not to receive, after the 20th instant, the paper of any bank of the State, (other than the deposite banks,) unless hereafter instructed to that effect by this institution. Very respectfully, J. DELAFIELD, JR., Cashier. I wish to know (said Mr. E.) whether nearly all the moneys received for the sale of the public lands in Ohio are in fact transferred by order of the Secretary of the Treasury to the city of New York, and the other eastern cities, and, if so, I wish to know why this is done? There is already in deposite in New York a very large amount of the public money, for which there is no present or probable future use; an amount, I believe, exceeding ten millions of dollars in that single city, and large sums in the other Atlantic cities. Why is it, then, that, of the small amount, the mere modicum of the public moneys, which is received in Ohio, "nearly the whole amount is necessarily required to be transmitted" to these same eastern cities? If this be so, as stated in that circular, and I have no doubt it is, for there is no question whatever of the veracity of the gentleman at the head of that institution, I wish to know what public necessity or public convenience has required the Secretary of the Treasury to drain this money from the West, and lodge it in the deposite banks in the great cities. There are some other matters indicated by this circular, of which I wish to be informed. It is stated there that orders have been given by that deposite bank to the receivers of public money of the United States, who make deposites at that bank, that they shall not, after the 20th of April, receive any notes of the Ohio banks, other than deposite banks, in payment for land, unless thereafter directed so to do; and they make it a condition to such directions, that the banks shall agree to pay the amount of their notes so received-not in specie-no, that will not do, but in drafts on some of the eastern cities at thirty days' date, at par. Such drafts are worth from one to two and a half per cent. advance; and this is the tax that this deposite bank levies upon its neighbors for the privilege of having their notes made receivable by the Treasury of the United States. This is a very important power, and a very profitable one, and if it be in fact vested by the Secretary of the Treasury in the deposite banks, it is time that the public should be informed of it. |