On the application to be made of the dividends of the South Carolina Rail Road Company.----- 1847. On arranging for the payment of the public debt in smaller REPORTS OF COMMITTEES ON FINANCE AND BANKS. 1833. On debt due to Bank by Columbia Female Academy....... 612 1839. On exhibiting the indebtedness of the officers of the Bank.. 613 1841. On the application of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charles- ton Rail Road Company, to be allowed to cancel certain INTRODUCTION. The By a Resolution of the Legislature, passed the 18th December, 1840, the President of the Bank of the State of South Carolina was directed to have compiled and published, in pamphlet form, all Acts and Clauses of Acts and all Resolutions passed and adopted by the Legislature in relation to the said Bank, and Branches thereof. and that he do cause a sufficient number of copies to be placed on the tables of the Members at the beginning of the next Session." In obedience to this Resolution, the President compiled and caused to be published, the Acts. Clauses of Acts, and Resolutions referred to, and in addition thereto. collected and published every Report of the President and Directors, and of the several Investigating Committees, which could be procured, with such parts of the Reports of the several Comptroller Generals, as related to the Bank. copies required for the Members of the Legislature were placed on their tables, at the session of December, 1841, but a considerable number, intended for the Library, were unfortunately consumed by a fire, which destroyed the office of A. H. PEMBERTON, Esq. the State Printer, after the adjournment, and before they were completed and delivered. Although the compilation did not include the Reports of the President and Directors for 1824,825. 1828 and 1829, and also the very full and able Report of the Investigating Committee of the mother Bank. made in December, 1827, by the Hon. THOMAS S. GRIMKE. which had not yet been recovered it was found to contain so much that was indispensable to a proper knowledge of the history and operations of the Bank, that the Legislature at its next Session in December, 1842, ordered a new edition. That edition was presented enlarged by subsequent Reports, and also by all the Ordinances of the City Council of Charleston, and the Regulations of the Bank. in regard to the Fire Loans. These latter documents have so im ́portant a bearing on the transactions of the Bank, and will be so very useful for understanding the operations of the Fire Loan, that it has been considered best to include them. The whole edition of 1843 having been exhausted, the Legislature, at December Session of 1846, ordered the President to prepare a new one.— To render it as complete as possible, great efforts have been made to recover the documents not included in preceding editions; and from private libraries, as well as by overhauling the journals and archives of the two Honses, valuable and interesting additions have been secured for this volume. To these also are added such Reports, Resolutions and Acts of the Legislature, the President and Directors, and other public functionaries, as have been made since 1843 to the close of December, 1847. The documentary history of this Institution cannot be perfect, without some account of its origin. It is well known, from its charter, that it was created by the Legislature in December, 1812; but the proceedings out of which it sprung, were only published in the papers of the day, have gone out of print, and are now only to be found in the Journals of the two Houses, and one Report, not recorded in the Journal, but filed away amongst the archives of the House of Representatives. As it was believed that the account which they present of this important measure would not be without interest and value, and would come within the views of the Legislature in ordering this publication, the Journals of the two Houses were carefully examined, and the following extracts taken; which, with the copy of the Report made by the Chairman of the Committee of the House of Representatives, also inserted at its proper place, will present the legislative history of the transaction in its true and regular order. It is well known, that the idea of a Bank grew out of the peculiar difficulties of that period. England and France were at war with each other, and by their repeated invasions of the rights of the United States. as a neutral power. had caused the imposition of the embargo and non-intercourse Acts of 1807 and 1803. A policy so restrictive had so cut off all foreign trade. since December, 1807, that the agricultural productions of South Carolina. the source of the income of most of her citizens, had continued to accumulate on their hands. at home or at the sea ports, and had become so depreciated. as to be unsaleable, and without value. Money had almost ceased to circulate amongst the people, either in the form of specie or Bank notes; for although there were then four Banks in the State, they were all located in Charleston, and conducted on principles purely commercial so that they afforded no relief to the Agricultural and other suffering classes in the country. These classes were laboring under most distressing embarrassments. An unexampled prosperity had, for many years preceding the adoption of the embargo policy, rewarded the enterprise and industry of the people. The sudden revulsion produced by those measures, closed at once the sources of their prosperity, and paralyzed their energies. Year after year of its continuance brought them no alleviation, and only plunged them in deeper and deeper. To add to their difficulties, war was declared in June, 1812, against Great Britain, and to support its operations, the taxes, both of the State and Federal Governments, were greatly increased. In this condition of things, when specie had almost disappeared, when no substitute for it was in reach of the people, when debts and taxes had to be paid, when property had lost immensely in its value, and the most fearful sacrifices were impending, the idea was suggested of a system of public loans, based on public credit on the one hand, and on the property of the people borrowing on the other, to restore the prostrated energy of the State, and revive the hopes of its despondent citizens. With whom this measure of relief originated, it is not, perhaps, now possible to decide with certainty. What we do know, however, is, that the first tangible movement came from the Hon. JOSEPH BLACK, then a Representative from Abbeville, and for many years after known as a diligent and faithful member of the Senate, from the same District. The Resolution below was introduced in the House of Representatives by him, on the 25th Nov. 1812, and was immediately passed, and sent to the Senate. That body concurred the next day, and the Joint Committee, raised under the Resolution, commenced their deliberations. These resulted in a Report to the Senate of the Bill chartering this Bank, made by the Hon. STEPHEN ELLIOTT, afterwards its first and most able President. No written statement of the views of the Committee accompanied the Bill. A written Report was made by Mr. BLACK to the House of Representatives, which is introduced below in its proper place, in the proceedings of the two Houses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Nov. 25, 1812. [See Journal, p. 21.] "Capt Black submitted the following Resolution, which was agreed to, viz: Resolved, That a message be sent to the Senate, informing them that this House have appointed a Committee of Capt. Black, Mr. D. E. Huger, Mr. Yancey, Maj. Felder and Col Lowry, to meet a Committee of the Senate, to inquire into the expediency of authorizing a loan, or some other measure, that may have a tendency to supply the want of the circulation of Specie, and to request their concurrence therein, and that the said Joint Committee have leave to report by bill or otherwise." The following message was sent accordingly : IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Nov. 25, 1812. "Mr. President and Gentlemen of Senate: This House have appointed Capt. Black, Mr. D. E. Huger. Mr. Yancey, Maj Felder and Col. Lowry, a Committee to inquire into the expediency of authorizing a loan, or some other measure, that may have a tendency to supply the want of the circulation of Specie: and request that your House will appoint a Committee to confer with the Committee of the House on the practicability and expediency of such a measure, and that they have leave to report by Bill or otherwise. JOHN GEDDES, Speaker." IN THE SENATE, Nov. 26, 1812. The foregoing Message being received. Ordered. That the following message be sigued by the President and sent to the House of Representatives, viz : views to different persons, and provide a wide field for honest disagreement; political associations, party spirit, personal views and clashing interests, co-operate powerfully, often imperceptibly, yet not the less certainly, to influence the deliberations and direct, to some extent, the conduct of Legislators, as well as of other men. No measure was calculated to press into its consideration more of these disturbing agencies, than the establishment of a Bank for the State. Such, however, were the exigencies of the country, and such, we may infer, were the weight of reasons in its favor, that the bill was finally passed, after able discussion, by a very great majority; the aggregate vote of the two Houses being 106 for, to 30 against it. The conflict which thus commenced with the existence of the institution, has occasionally been revived, and made to agitate the public mind. Opinions are arrayed on both sides, but as opinions of themselves are mere speculations, they settle nothing, and the great question still remains: "Does the Bank answer the ends for which it was established?" This is a question of great importance to the State, and whatever will throw light upon it cannot but be acceptable. The proper answer to it are facts, which are to be found in part in the official documents collected and published in this volume, and partly in transactions on record nowhere but in memory and observation, scattered through the experience of years, and diffused over the whole State, exhibiting the effect of its operations on general business, or in individual cases. If all these could be collected, and so arranged as to present them in one view, elucidating their legitimate bearing on a subject of so much consequence to the public welfare, it would doubtless be acknowledged to be a work of great utility. However desirable it might be here, it is obvious that its length would exclude it from these pages; but as some index to what may in part answer this question, a summary of a few leading particulars is subjoined, succinctly yet specifically indicating the points by which those whose leisure or duties incline them to the task, may be enabled to explore their way. Before this summary is submitted, a few observations, explanatory of the circumstances which have necessarily exercised an influence over the operations of the Bank, may assist in the examination. The Bank, it will be remembered, was chartered in a time of war and great pecuniary embarrassments, and when the burthens of taxation were beginning to bear heavily on the country. It was looked to for much relief to individuals, and for assistance to the State, in any exigency, and especially in case the defence of her territory against the enemy required it. It was expected that while ministering in aid of the citizens, and their business and pursuits, it would be a powerful adjunct to her Treasury and resoures. Thirty-six years, filled with events and changes of the greatest magnitude, of all that can affect the condition of nations and of individuals, have passed by since it assued the responsibilities of its existence.— How has it stood the test? |