uals
or States to be in specie or public stock of the United States at rates
to be fixed by law; the subscribing States to pay in ten annual
installments.

IV. That some share should be given in the direction to the general and
state governments by appointment of directors in the general direction
and branches.

The result of this plan would be, 1st, that the United States might,
from the interest on the public deposits, accumulate during years of
peace and prosperity a treasure sufficient to meet periods of war and
calamity; 2d, that they might rely on a loan of eighteen millions of
dollars in any sudden emergency; 3d, that by the payment in ten
installments the increase in capital would be in proportion to the
progressive state of the country; 4th, that the bank itself would form
an additional bond of common interest and union amongst the several
States. But these arguments availed not against the blind and ignorant
jealousy of the Republican majority in the House. The days of the bank
were numbered. Congress refused to prolong its existence, and the
institution was dissolved. Fortunately for the country, it wound up its
affairs with such deliberation and prudence as to allow of the
interposition of other bank credits in lieu of those withdrawn, and
thus prevented a serious shock to the interests of the community. In the
twenty years of its existence from 1791 to 1811 its management was
irreproachable. Its annual dividends from 1791 to 1809 were 8-2/3 per
cent., and its stock, always above par, from 1805 to 1809 ranged from 20
to 40 per cent. premium.

In its numerous and varied relations to the government it had been a
useful and faithful servant, and its directors had never assumed the
attitude of money kings, of which the Jeffersonian democracy pretended
to stand in hourly dread. To the general and important nature of its
financial service Mr. Gallatin gave his testimony in 1830; after his own
direct participation in public affairs had ended.

"Experience, however, has since confirmed the great utility and
importance of a bank of the United States in its connection with
the Treasury. The first great advantage derived from it consists in
the safekeeping of the public moneys, securing in the first
instance the immediate payment of those received by the principal
collectors, and affording a constant check on all their
transactions; and afterwards rendering a defalcation in the m