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TEXAS STATE! LIBRARY
the general interests, or violate the inherent and reserved rights of in- dividuals. To Texas, a National Bank, properly constituted, would sustain very different, and much more simple relations, than it could do, by any ingenuity in its conformation under that grand, but com- plex system of government. And as its relations to the country would be more simple, and less exposed to perversion, or to cavil, so its operations would naturally be more uniform, harmonious, and beneficial. In contemplation of these and many other reasons which might be added, I feel it my duty to recommend to you the early establish- ment of a strictly national Bank, which shall be the exclusive property, and under the exclusive control of the republic. An admixture of private interests would embarrass its operations, without bringing equivalent advantages to the. institution. Such a bank incorporated for a suitable term of years, founded on a specific hypothecation of a competent portion of the public domain, which should be immediately appropriated to that purpose; with the additional guarantee of the plighted faith of the nation, and an adequate deposit of specie in its. vaults, would, it is confidently beleived, confer many eminent and continued blessings upon the country. It would furnish an immediate and complete remedy for the existing pecuniary difficulties, which result entirely from the insufficiency and depreciation of our present circulating medium. A well digested project of such an institution, when fully propounded to, and understood by the people, cannot fai.l to propitiate a very general approbation, and to enlist the national pride of a large majority of our fellow citizens. And an institution having all the elements of usefulness and prosperity in itself, and sustained by the confidence and affections of an enlightened people, can scarcely be· supposed capable of degenerating into an instrument of £rand, or of oppresion; or failing to realize the benefits expected froni it. The triple security it would offer to its creditors, is of the highest character, of the most indubitable responsibility; for it is an approved maxim, that real-estate affords the best possible guarantee for the ultimate payment of a debt. The pledge of the nation's faith will give peculiar solemnity and increased confidence to its obligations; and a competent deposit of specie will always be present, or presently attainable, to answer the contingent and occasional demands for that article. It is indeed true, that real estate is not sufficiently commutable or transitive, to answer the ordinary and daily purposes of commerce and of exchange. These can be accomplished only by specie itself, or by that active and undoubted credit, of which a known and sufficient deposit of the metals, or something eqivalent to them is the proper basis. It is believed the proposed bank would be amply furnished with their equivalent - and to all necessary extent, with the actual metallic deposit itself. It is evident, that a Bank so constituted, the exclusive property of a stable and popular government and combining the three guarantees, of land, specie, and the public faith, would not require to retain in its vaults as large a proportion of dormant capital ' as is acknowledged to be indispensable to the safe conduct of a private institution. An crdinary corporate bank, renders no other security for the redemption of its issues, than the actual corporate capital which is supposed to consist in a given deposit of the precious metals,.
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