sident of the bank, which resulted in a gradual
drawing upon the bank.

At once the Secretary of the Treasury did what he could to relieve
the money market, by prepaying bonds which had been called in the
process of the payment of the public debt; but the principal relief
given to the market at that time was the action of the Clearing
House Association of New York, by the issue of over $24,000,000 of
clearing house certificates. This was purely a defensive operation
adopted by the associated banks of New York, fifteen of which are
state institutions and the balance national banks.

All that was done in New York to prevent a panic was done by the
banks themselves. The government of the United States had no lot
or parcel in it except so far as the Secretary of the Treasury
prepaid bonds that had already been called, a transaction which
has been done a hundred times. So far as the government was
concerned it had nothing to do with these banks; the measures of
relief were furnished by the banks themselves.

This condition of financial affairs led to a long debate in the
Senate, commencing on the 17th of June, on the merits and demerits
of the system of national banks, and especially of the clearing
house of the city of New York. The comptroller of the currency
had taken active and efficient measures to protect the interests
of the United States. He was called before the committee on finance
and gave a full statement of these measures. It was apparent that
the temporary panic grew out of the reckless and criminal conduct
of a few men and not from defects in the national bank system or
the clearing house. The debate that followed, in the Senate, was
mainly between Morgan, Beck and myself. I stated fully the methods
of conducting the business of the clearing house, a corporation of
the State of New York, and closed as follows:

"As the prosecution against John C. Eno is now pending in Canada,
a foreign country, as a matter of course no one can state what will
be the result of it. We only know that proper legal proceedings
are now being urged to have an extradition, and if he is brought
within the jurisdiction of the courts as a matter of course the
prosecution can then be pushed. So with James D. Fish. Indictments
have been had and are now pending against him for a violation, not
only of the national banking act, but I believe also for a violation
of the state law; and the same is to be said of Ferdinand Ward.