L. 1.1 VETO OF THE BANK BILL. 7's the Senate and House of kepresen Salim col the Commonwealth e Penney! va nia. Genrutunx :—The hill entitled " An act relating to Banks, and to provide for the better government thereof," is herewith returned to the Senate, in which it origina ted, without the Executive approbation, and with the following reasons why chat sanction is withheld. This Bill relates to a subject of deep Anil universal interest to the people of Pennsylvania; and to its consideration I have brought at the energies at my mind, and all the lights that expel ience of up wards of half a century has furnished. 1 cannot persuade myself that duty or pa triotism would justify my sanction of its provisions. Some things contained in it, I would gladly approve, but I cannot be• lieve that the penalties imposed on the Banks, so far as relates to the citizens of this Commonwealth, ought to be repealed, or that the issue of notes under the denom ination of five dollars by the Banks, to an amount of six millions of dollars, for, the term of five years, should be author-, ized. It would be useless to go into a discus slim of the causes with have led to the present derangement and embarrassment of our monetary affairs. It is enough to know that they exist, and that our bank ing institutions, generally, hare been un able to meet their engagements. We have had three bank suspensions in less than four years. The result is an almost entire destruction of the confidence of the public in our banking institutions. The intimate connection existing between our banks has involved all in one common fate. Those conducted with prudence and care, are suffering from the miscon duct of others. That there are some great and cardinal errors in the mode of conducting our banking operations, must be obvious to all, or those things would not occur so frequently as they have done. The public will, seeking the public good, has required that these errors should be corrected. That correction, all must be aware, cannot take place at any time, without cases of individual suffering and hardship. These are to be regretted, but yet ought not to prevent the correction of greater evils to the public large. The in dulgence given to the banks, by the reso lution passed on the third day of April, 1840, which suspended existing penalties for not meeting their engagements until the 15th January last, it was hoped would have enabled them then fully to resume. When I approved those resolutions. I be lieved that it was necessary to give the banks and the people some time to meet their engagements. That given, how ever, was greater than I then apprehended to be necessary, or exactly satisfactory to the public. But as it was a mere ques. tion of expediency as to time, I yielded my assent, rather than run the risk of having no legislation on the subject. The indulgence thus given, was dictated by a spirit of extraordinary forbearance, and the public fully expected at the time ap pointed, the banks would be fully able to meet theirengagements. Such were most certainly my own expectations. Those expectations unfortunately have proved to be groundless. The banks are now in a state of general suspension, and this bill is designed by the Legislature as a remedy for the evil, and a relief to the community . Let us examine how far it seems likely ti answer the end proposed. The principle features of it are, that it repeals absolutely and unconditionally the penalties of "forfeitures to which the banks of this Commonwealth are subject for the non-payment of their liabilities on demand, and renders the banks liable, a natural persons or individuals are, agree. able to the laws of this Commonwealth for the payment of their bills, notes ant' other liabilities; and also, that it authori. Les the banks for the term of five years of ter the passage of this act, to issue circu late, and receive bills or notes of the de. nomination of one, two, and three dollars to an amount not exceeding fifteen psi cent, on the amount of capital aetuall3 paid in. It also provides sundry regula tions, and imposes certain restrictions up on the banks. Some of these restrictions and regulations are wise and salutary, but many of them are, in my opinion, calcu lated to produce far more mischief than good. In relation to the repeal of the penalties and forfeitures, and placing the banks on the same footing of natural persons, it seems to me, that the b;11 is peculiarly ob jectionable in several material respects. It prescribes no time when the repeal shall cease to be operative, and it serves none of the special provisions of the law under which, independent of the penalties and forfeitures to which the banks are subject, they may be required to pay their liabili ties. It seems to me that it would have been far better, if any law of this nature is to pass at all, instead of repealing ab solutely the penalties and forfeitures, to suspend the law impo.ing them for some definite period of time.—They would then, at the expiration of that time, again take erect without any positive legislation up on this subject. But agreeably to the provisions of this bill, they are repealed forever. Should subsequent events re. quire their re-enactment, we might be met with the objection, that the charters are inviolate; that the provisions of the bill in question, when accepted, became part of the same, and that the Legislature poa• sees no power to re-enforce the existing penalties so taken off. Great cautinn • shnuld he exercised in the postage of laws affecting corporations ir private rights, and private remedies in gaol to them. Corporations being crea urea of the law, and acting only by its express authority, and being responsible only in the manner pointed out by the law, may, by a hasty and considerate altera tion of the law, the whole operation of a hick was not foreseen at the time of its ,passage, be ruinously crippled in their ac tions, or placed beyond the reach of the citizens who may have dealings with them, or demands upon them. There are so many ditlerent modes in which the banks i of this Commonwealth are connected with the general interests of the community, and there are so many legal provisions re , - plating that connexion, that it appears to me to be an extremely hazardous experi ment to say, that so far as respects de mands against them in their cut porate ca pacity, they shall be repealed, and the banks be placed on the footing of natural persons or individuals. At the first glance it appears to be plausible, but it may re , suit in a manner very prejudicial to the community or to the banks, or probably, to both. Without tracing its operations further, it would relieve the banks from a serious inconvenience in giving bail on' suits brought, and on appeals from awards obtained against them ; although the pop ular impression is, that it would free them from no such liability. There may be other changes which it would effect, but I shall not occupy any time in following them out. It would have been perfectly convenient to have simply provided on this subject, that so much of any laws of this Commonwealth as relates to the pen alties imposed upon the banks, of the for feiture of their charters, should have been suspended, leaving all the other laws for enforcing demands against them untouch ed. Then all the questions that can re late to the enforcement of the law; for the collection of demands against the banks, would have been provided for, and it would have been known preeisely what the condition of the banks was; but not so under this law which places them in the same general class with natural per sons or individuals. So far as respects the authority given to the banks to issue and circulate notes under the denomination of five dollars, 1 beg leave to refer you to my annual mes sage transmitled to the Legislature of last year and to the present Legislature, for my general views. The untoward cir cumstances which have placed the banks of this Commonwealth in the present sit nation, are to lie deeply regretted, and in no particular more so, than in the ernbar ra,ments thereby created, in procuring small sums for the common purposes of change among the citizens in their vari ous transactions. The embarrassments are undoubtedly, in many instances, a se vere hardship upon the community, but the question presented for consideration is, whether this mode of relief would not, in the end, be more injurious to the com munity than the temporary , im.onveni ence they now suffer. This provision would authorize the issue and circulation of bank notes for less than five dollars, to the amount of six millions of dollars •Ind upwards, and we might then well de spair of seeing a dollar in specie iu cir culation. NVhatever arguments might be adduced in favor of a limited amount of small notes, for a short period, to aid in the re sumption of specie payments, the force imf which has not been conclusive upon ny mind, the amount authorized by this 'till, and the period of time during which hey are permitted, are, in my judgment, ;neater than can be required by time cxi ‘ency of the occasion, or than the peo lle of the Commonwealth would willing y tolerate. The latter part of the same section ton, for the first time in the legis. .ation of Pennsylvania, expressly Banc ions the issue ol post notes. No portion sf our citizens, so far as I have been in formed, have asked this at the hands of •he Legislature; and the policy of issu ng them by the banks, has been more !ban rendered doubtful by the experience if past years, and has been loudly repro mated. I have already stated, that the regula tions and restrictions imposed upon the 'inks, were, some of them wise and salu tary, and I shall confine my notice only to some of the principal ones which I con cider peculiarly objectionable. In the arst place, this bill pr,tvides that the di. rectors of any bank, individually or col lectively, shall not contract any liabilities to the bank exceeding certain limits; that is, when the capital stock actually paid in does not exceed $250,000, the amount of such liability shall not exceed the one. sixth part of the aggregate loans of such bank; and proceeding to provide, that as the capital of each bank increases in a• mount, the relative proportion of liabili• ties shall be increased. At a cursory glance, this provision might appear to be a very considerable security to the public against the monopolizing rapacity of bank directors; but upon more mature consider• ation, it will be manifestly fraught with dangerous consequences. One of the most grievous complaints against the' banks of this commonwealth, has been their over issues and expansions. The di rest tendency of this provision seems to me to produce them. lf, for instance, a bank has made loans to an amount of 8100,000, the liability of all the direc tors can only amount to one-sixth of this sum. But should they wish to7obtain more, they have nothing to do but to in- crease the extent of loaua to 8200,000, or to any other sum without limit, and they can increase their own liabilities to one• sixth of that amount. It is evidently, therefore, offering a direct inducement to expand their circulation, and that too, perhaps, by loaning their money to un sound borrowers, or for purposes not culated to promote the interest of the lic. 1 cannot, therefore, yield toy assent to such a provision as this. The Cashiers of the banke arc special ly entrusted with all their cash and oth er property; et by the sixth section of this bill, they are prohibited from keeping any private or individual account with the banks of which they are cnshkr, It there be wisdom, or additional secmi• ty to the pubic in this, it is, I confess, be. yond my comprehension. A material change in the number of I votes to which stockholders of banks Fha be entitled, is almost made. It is provi ded that every share of stock not excee ding fifty. shall be entitled to a vote, and a proportionate increase of votes to the number of shares of stock held is exten ded to an indefinite number. By the law as it stood before, fifty shares of stock were entitled to thirteen votes, with a relative proportion for any number of shares. It appears to me that the effect of this change would be to place the con• trol of each bank in the hands of a few persons, and to enable them to monopo lize its management. 1 cannot thirgic, therefore, that this provision is caicul.; to advance either the interests a the banks or secure the interests of the pub-. lic. This Bill further provides, that tors hereafter to be elected, in batiks with an amount of capital stock paid 1.1 not less than three millions of doil,k, be holders, in their own right, of than three thnsand dollars of of said bank, and exi,a. portionate qualification, to the &tem., elected in all other banks—and I. it;•e, providing, that persons to be elected 8141., Directors in the bank of Pennsylvania and in the Philadelphia bank, shall he stockholders to the amount of one the.) sand dollars, and in the Columbia Bank and Bridge Company, to the amount of five hundred dollars. The whole ,ystim, here proposed to be established, of r ef ! l.- ring the directors of the several this commonwealth to be holders of to so large an amount, seems to me to oe exceedingly objectionable. It places the control of the banks, at once, in the hands either of the rich or of the large suck job bers and stockholders. So fa..., respects the country banks in par!.irol.,,it4 ow-ra tion wiil be a hard one. !I i t , 'mint to a d:sfraticht, 7 ., , f the emit tots in khe t_!,:roo and will event sally Waco the banks in far less cornpe, tent tiands than even timie 7.7.7.;;ke them. The banks are already aristocrat ic enough without the addition of this, which is in effect, a property qualification to their directors. t can see nothing so peculiar in the character and duties of a bank director, as to require that he shall possess from five hundred to three ttioe• sand dollars of property to quit!l4 him for it, when no other office in the common wealth requires a qualification. Nor du 1 know that experience shows that it is a wise standard to iner.sure a man's intel ligence or capacity by the GI kis purse. Nor can I believe that in this en • lightened age, such a stanc - ad ought to be adopted. As respects the State directors in the banks referred to, it appears to we, that the interests of the public will be I:qr more likely to be secured, by the election of state directors who have no stuck, or a very small amount, than by the election of those who are interested in hilving so large an amount of stock as this Dill re. ; quires. The stockholders in these sever al banks are fully represented by the di rectors, whom they elect theins,l , Is, and the State, which has nut a full preportion of representation in the board of Ilirte• tors, according to the amount of stock she holds, is supposed, in theory, at le. Itit, to be represented by the State (11•••,,,,, elected by the Legislature. Is it . reasonable therefore, to requ'•-• those who are to represent the • of the State, which may sometime:. verse to those of the stockholders, ; I also be so deeply interested in repre, tine the stockholders, who have more ;,; their fair share of representation aft,- ,41y? I cannot approve this feature in the Bill. The provisions in the 18th section, re quiring the Banks of this Commonvvealili to issue and pay out none but their own notes, without the consent of the narti.. to whom the same are tendered ;i• • ed wholly nugatory, by the exece,g,,,, ~1 "special contracts." Banks can very easily evade the operation of section by making a special cootc, w : all those who deposits money ',Nit" discounts• - inent for the same in carrell.. uat,k or in such manner as they may cliou, , specify. It is useless to enact a law, which can be so easily rendered inn s , tive. The authority given to the Strnk , iolil. ers of the bank of the United S.uLei, to reduce its capital from thirty-five to four teen millions of dollars, has never been asked for by either the directois, ur the stockholders of that bank, and in fora► which this bill prescribes, seems me, to be unwise and unnecessary. if the Legislature is of the opinion, as a great many of the citizens of The coot• monwealth undoubtedly ara, that the cap ital of that bank is t. , large, this bill should have provided imneritively, that in order to entitle the bank to enjo% the indulgence which it gives, the capital should be reduced to such sun as seemed comparable with the public safety and public interest. This bill however, leaves t entirely to the discretion of the stock udders, whether its capital should be re keed, and in case the stockholders shall to make the reduction, then the ink is to be released from the obligation onposed upon it by its charter, of making t permanent loan to the Commonwealth, 'at exceeding six millions of dollars, old a tem:ioriry loan not exceeding one million of dollars in any one year, at an • itecest ii! foor oof cent. The bank is to :witinue to ,-ploy all its exclusive tar tite leogill of time tor which it ,as incorporated, and to be released from this obligation, which at the time of its creation was considered one of the most beneficial to the politic contained in its chatter. 'the bank affects to treat its charter as a contract between its stock holders and the State. It has very re cently succeeded in pleading that con (roc+, as a protection m:rtinst the provis ions of die .• , , , 7inu, • . ; . ed 3d. it, 1340, court has d Tided, that, unuee toe s xnd cons:.in . ion, this charter exempted it from 11w operation of those resolutions ~ ,t the I;• .;• ore, without proof of the of eank to be bound by those now it is proposed by this bill to exte.:t• most liberal boon to the bank, without sel;jec.— i• fo the laws and ri! ! die Legislature which control the other banks of the Common woa!th. But in rqation to this section of the tw.ch more grAva question is pre sented. The .25th thr, Ist ar ticle or the coubtitutionot is iS Ciri:1111:1n. alth provides, that no corporate body 'I Le hereafter ere,ted, renewed, or with banking or discoolitiog rivile without six months previous •', c , .. 'cr of the application for the :• , manner as may be prescri. Nor shall any charter for the purp , , s . ;oresasil, be granted for a longer pe , .,:d than twenty years, and every such charter shall contain a clause, reserving tc, the Legislature, the powrr to alter, re r4. er the same, whenever in their is nity be injurious to the citizens ,tritlionwealth, is a nner • u ti 7',3t no inje3tice shall be dune to do ! eor i , oeors." • ~,,c odeil that no notice, such as is rt.t; b, this section of the Consti tution, • the act of Ist June, 1839, pas, ! !i, ••-soance thereof, has been giv ).! r d o the bill now under con. •r. :lie 17th section of this bill certain'• . :4 1 .4.0150 the Bank of the Uaited Sta; conditions imposed upon it by the act grant:tg its charter, and it the provisions of that 44- uu not come within the letter of the • 25th section of the Ist article of the Con stitution, they certainly come within the intenbion of ;t, which was to give the pub tic notice of all intended applications for rre.o in . ); or changing the charters of mu insihotions. if this section of the II it. iieestion should be deemed to come w.thin the section of the Constitution quo td, it omits the very important provision ,ne Constitution requires, of a res ervation to the Legislature, of the "power to alter, revoke ur annul the same," when fout.l injtnious to the citizens of the Com monwer.! th, upon thl terms of doing no injustice to the corporators. These ars the principal objections to the form and details of this bill, that pre sent thomselves to niv mind; and in ad hi'eon to these, tnere are others, which yonder this hill, as a measure of re I L•f, or to the banks or to the public, oat o ling.. 1 have retained this t room:rg it to the Legislature, ,s!tie last period when 1 could do' so, It ttte power of returning it with rn iojections, for the purpose of ascer taininit, it possible, the views of the most enlightened practical business men in the co , -inuiiity, in relation to its various pro • visions; snit I speak advisedly when 1 • that if this bill were to becomes law, questionable wit, one tenth of ot . • . It . " Of Ili 1,1 11 . Cely ['lad 1.1- ute co t i.nc "oaks, or among any par I. no , ith,tanding the extent of in our, wt..• the citizens of the ,t, from all (porters, any intel on who now believes that this tl t, ttocome a law. When it first , •, 1 examined it in • ',ogle provision which promised to d ive relief to the banks, or to', neople, and I feel strongly fortified in wv ronvictions upon the subject, by the of the opinions of almost all ab I r.nrcv, have cipressed opiniott_ i the Commtrawealth, and engaged in all pursuits of life. The present conditi o n el the banks and the citizens of Pennsylvania is calculated to awokea our most earnest and serious ioeration. With an ainplo amount of rc olirces to meet all their liabilities, and with the assirance that those resources are hourly multiplying, our pecuniary af. fairs are surrounded with embarrassments and difficulty, and the forebodings of many, for the future, seem to afford little to cheer nr to encouraps. I do not myself believe that their is any real grva.,l for the de- 1 sp.indency that seem.) generally to prevail. We have met with a slight revulsion of fortune, and without waiting to estimate' its true extent, are seized with panic and ipprdiension. I fear that neither the .masures ailn:,ted by the Legislature, nor the ianguage held by many of its members, is calculated to dispel this panic and ap prehension. It is one of the incidental evils of a gov. , ninem. like ours, that not only the condition of the public, but every action of those entrusted with the govern • inent, is liable to innocent misunderstand ing, or to interested misrepresentation. The instant a slight disturbance in the prosperous business or the country occurs, either from any derangement of the gen eral laws of trade, or from the misman-. i agement of the basking institutions of the country, m from any combination of cau -1 ses, not easily developed, it IS seized hold, !of, and made a theme of partizan deck.' mation, against those who happen to dif fer in their political opinions from the de claimer. Truth is too often sacrificed to expediency, and the welfare of the public made to yield to the private or personal interests of those, who are contending for power. By such means as these, is the 'public mind harrassed and disturbed ; bu-' siness men checked or driven from their avocations; the resources of the country depreciated, and the measures designed for the relief of the people thwarted, and r!;(!rred fruitless, What but the operas • ..,•11 of things as this, could • ,• . that the great anti sulisluntial State of Pennsylvania, with her rich and cultivated fields—her inexaustable coal mines—her numerous furnaces and foundries, was on the verge of bankruptcy --her citizens within the very jaws of ruin--her busi ness men of all kinds languishing on the very point of general prostration and ani hilation ? It is true that the banks of Pennsylvania have suspended specie pay ments, and many of her citizens have, by engaging somewhat too extensively in bu !siiios or speculation, become considera- I bit in debt mid ciAartnssed ; but with/nibs ibly one or two excep tions, have ample means to meet all de mands upon them ; and those of her citi zens who are emharrased, with few ex ceptions, have abundance of property, which may not be convertible instantly into money, sufficient to pay all their debts; but the resources of the entire peos ple of the State, would almost in a single year, liquidate all the demands that can be made upon them from abroad- Under such circumstance as these, communities must regulate themselves by the same general rules of wisdom, prudence and l economy, which never fail to extricate in dividuals from similar difficulties. The substantial means of the people of Penn sylvania to pay off all their liabilities, are not the slightest degree impaired. The people of this Commonwealth need noth• mg but a little time, reasonable patience under temporary evils; the application of their own persevering and hardy indus• try, in producing and transporting to market, her two great staples, coal and iron. and the prepitit'.l:; blc;etngs or ilea yen upon her harvest fields, to replace them upon that solid footing of prosperity and independence, which they so proudly occupied, before they were hurled from it, by the rash and headlong spirit of specu lation. Those who, with their eyes open to these things, will persist that Pennsyls vania and her citizens have been pereipi.. toted into to the bottom of the gulf of bankruptcy, must be permitted to cherish the phantoms of their own creation, and wait until the common sense of the peo. ple, and the return of prosperous times, have convinced them of theirerror. Those who believe that their own inters_ is or those of the political party with which they happen to be associated, will be pro moted by traducing the credit of the State, and representing her condition to be one hopeless indebtedness and distress, must he allowed to pursue the course which they have seen fit to adopt, until the un erring intelligence of the people has de• tested the deception, and held them up, to the reproof of all hottest men, fur at. tempting to practice upon their credulity. Pennsylvania, like most of the sister States of the Union, and some of the com mercial nations of Europe, has engaged beyond her available means, in trade, en terprizes of improvement, and specula tion, but her recuperative energies will enable her to take the lead of all of them, • .1 extricating herself from the enibarrass• • •. • . ll.ir resources :a. 'fishing au annual s..p . ply, and never can want a market. The industry of her cit- izens is untiring, and they love not only their own State, but its independence too Avell, to repine at the payment of a few dollars tax, or the suffering of a tempora ry inconvenience, to see that State placed beyond the reach of fruitless demands made upon her justice, or unanswered calls upon her honor. A few may be found, who would persuade them that their property and industry are to be tax forever, and who would inculcate the -mvorthy that those who are in favor of •r; the faith ant honor of the State untarnished, are the foev of the people, but they meet no encourage ment from the great mass of honest men, and are justly regarded as faithless or in terested advisers. On the important sub ject, public feeling is sound and united, and will do much to direct the efforts, and inspire confidence and resolution a mong our citizens. Giving to its peculiar geographical posi tion, the city of Philadelphia is made the great distributing mart of lot eign and dos mettle goods and manufactures, for a! large portion of the Western and South-' ern states of the Union. This circum stance has rendered both the banks and her citizens debtors, to a large amount, to New Yo•k and the Northeastern states, and to Europe, and rendered the pur- chasers of these commodities in the West and South, in the same manner indebted to Philadelphia. The moment the banks of Pennsylvania resumed specie payments 011 the 15th January last, large demands ' upon the banks, merchants and citizens, of Philadelphia, which had been held in reserve in New York and the Eastern States, both on the accoant of the citizens of those states, and on account of the tor eign creditors of Philadelphia, were pre sented to the Philadelphia banks for pay ment in specie. Nearly eleven millions of dollars in specie, or specie funds were, I believe, drawn from the Philadelphia banks during the nineteen (lays they cum , tinned specie payments, and immediately taken out of the State. This enormous sum, so drawn out of the Philadelphia banks, and the manner in which it was 'disposed of', strongly leads us to the belief', that there must have been some combina , Con or understanding among those by ho in it was obtained, to make an almost 'simultaneous rush upon the Philadelphia banks, either for the purpose of compelling them again to suspend, or of restraining in some way, their general operations. It is believed that there are large sums still due from the banks and tit'- , zen, th, citlzens of other stales and to foreign creditors. der the laws of this Commonwealth, ion. posing penalties and augmented rates of interest upon the banks, these demands will undoubtedly be made, and their et forts fur the relief of the citizens of this 'Commonwealth, be fatally restrained and 'crippled. The banks of Pennsylvania having been established for the benefit of the people 'of Pennsylvania, the enforcement of the penalties to which they are subject, may be safely left in the hands of the people. So ion; as the existence of the bunks is believed to be useful, and their general conduct is such as to deserve and secure the confidence of the public, they will not be disturbed, although hourly liable to the infliction of the penalties which the laws prescribe. Experience on former occasions during suspensions, clearly de - monstrates this. If it be the interest of the public that the banks should continue to exist, it is the interest of the banks to. conduct themselves in such a manner as. to satisfy the public that such is the Let. If the public forbear towards the banks to enforce the penalties, the banks shbuld doubtless forbear towards the public to pro duce distress and embarrassment. The banks can do much by the mode in which they . treat their debtors, to create or to diminish our pecu Mary difficult ies, They have not only a right, bat it is their duty to exact adequate security from their debtors; but should they pass them un reasonably—should they bring to a Sher iff's sale, and consequent sacrifice, the property of those who, by a safe and rea sonable course of treatment, might ha‘ e paid them, they will peril that public confidence which under the law is th, tshield of their protection. In times of hardship and difficulty like the present, mutual justice and mutual forbearance on the part of the banks and the people, is the great guaranty for the rights and. interests of Loth. Let the banks of Penn sylvania therefore act with discretion aml justice, and they have nothing to tear from the citizens of this Commonwealth. But the citizens of other states, and the foreign creditors to whom I have above referred, have neither the same interests nor perhaps the same inclination, in ex tending indulgence to the banks of this State, to promote mutual advantage. It Will be within their power to harass them, and thus to augment, in a very great mea sure, the difficulty and embarrassments u nder which the citizens of this Common wealth suffer. It seems to me to be the part of duty, and I can see no injustice whatever, in protecting the citizens of this Commonwealth from this impending calamity. I regret that the Legislature, after a session of three months, should not have devised and presented to inc something that would secure this saleta ry object. I would most cheerfully ap prove of any measure that will protect the banks of this commonwealth from be ing crippled in their operations. and from the forfeiture of their charters, by comi• titnr; of broker., anal sharpel s ut oiler and to exact the ties which were originally designed for the safety and security of the people of this Commonwealth. Let those person. having demands against our banks be de prived of no civil remedy, which can be afforded by the law; let our courts remain open to them ; let them recover judgments• and enforce them by execution, with such interest as is allowed in other like cases of debt ; but the penalties which can be enacted only at the hazard of creating embarrassment and difficulty among our. citizens, should be reserved to be enforced L,y our own citizens, who are so deeply Hnterested in the consequences. Let 'those who are to feel the effects, judgt who thus will strike the blow. Such r law as this, would be a measure of sell preservation, and could give no jus ground of complaint to those who wuult be deprived of no legal right they now enjoy, and of no privilege, but that of an•l noying and disturbing their neighbors. without obtaining any benefit for them selves. In all our Legislative acts we shout( remember, that without encroaching up on the rights of the citizens ofother States our first and highest duty is to take care of the interests of Pennsylvania. This i expected from us by the people, and les than this would be an unpardonabl 'shrinking from our duty. DAVID R. PORTER, EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, April 8, 1841, We never yet knew a dandy that coul take a hint unless accompanied with a kicli
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