Chap. 7. 



POLITICAL liNSTITUTIOJiS. 



135 



VERMONT COPPER COINS. 



REASONS AGAINST BANKING. 



The amount authorised to be issued was 

 £25,155. The bills were to be redeemed 

 by the treasurer of the state by the firstof 

 June, 1782, with specie, at the rate of six 

 shillings for one Spanisli milled dollar, or 

 gold equivalent; and, for the purpose of 

 raising the means for their redemption, a 

 tax was laid, by the same act, of one shil- 

 ling three pence on the pound, on the 

 grand list of the state, to lie paid in gold 

 or silver, or the aforesaid bills. These 

 were the only bills of credit ever issued 

 by Vermont, and to the credit of the state 

 it may be added, they suffered no depre- 

 ciation and were all faithfully redeemed. 



The above act, which maybe found en- 

 tire on the 424th page of the Vermont 

 State Papers, closes as follows : " Be it 

 further enacted, that whosoever shall be 

 guilty of altering, or counterfeiting any of 

 said bills, or shall be any wa}' concerned 

 therein ; by making instruments for that 

 purpose, or be any wa3's aiding or assist- 

 ing tlierein, and be tliereof convicted, 

 shall suffer death ; any law, usage, or cus- 

 tom to the contrary notwitlistanding." 



During the great scarcity of money and 

 the embarrassments which led to insur- 

 rectionary movements in 1786,* a class of 

 the people were very clamorous for a bank, 

 and flattered themselves that such an in- 

 stitution would relieve them from all their 

 sufferings. Accordinglj^, at the session 

 of tlie legislature in October, a resolution 

 was passed submitting the question of the 

 establishment of a bank directly to the 

 people, by whom it was decided in the 

 negative in January, 1787, by a large ma- 

 jority.! From this time tlie subject of 



banks received but little attention for a 

 number of 3'ears, and no serious efforts 

 were made for the incorporation of bank- 

 ing institutions within the state till 1803.' 

 This year application was made for the 

 establishment of a bank at Windsor and 

 another at Burlington. After a long dis- 

 cussion, a bill passed the house of represen- 

 tatives in favor of the former by a vote of 

 !)3 to 83, and was sent to the governor and 

 council for their concurrence, which they 

 refused, and entered tlieir reasons upon 

 tlie journal of the assembly. As this 

 document is illustrative of the views en- 

 tertained bv many of the leading men of 

 the state at that period, we here lay it be- 

 fore our readers : 



^^Rcasons of the Governor and Council for 

 non-concurring in the Bill entitled an 

 act to incorporate a Bank at Windsor in 

 this Slate in 1803. 



1. Because bank bills being regarded 

 as money, and inofiey like water always 

 seeking its level, the bills put into circu- 

 lation within tliis state must displace 

 nearly the same sum of money now in 

 circulation among us, and by driving it 

 into the seaports, facilitate its exportation 

 to foreign countries ; which, as bank bills 

 cannot be made a legal tender, must prove 

 a calamity to the citizens generally, and 

 especially to those who dwell at a distance 

 from the proposed bank. 



2. Because, by introducing a more ex- 

 tensive credit, the tendency of banks 

 would be to palsy the vigor of industry 

 and to stupify the vigilance of economy, 

 the only two honest, general and sure 



* See part second, page 80. 



t .See part second, paire 79 and 81. Altliougli 

 Vermont had no banks till many years after her ad- 

 mission into the union, yet she had exercised the 

 powers of an independent government, and had au- 

 thorized the coiniva- of money long before that pe- 

 riod. At the ,Uine session of the legishiture in 1785, 

 it appears that the legislature granted to Reuben 



Harmon, jr., of Rupert; the exclusive right of coin- 

 ing copper within this state for the term of two 

 years from and after the firstof July following. Af- 

 ter much trouble and delay, he at length got his 

 works in operation, and commenced the coining of 

 coppers ; and as these are rarely to be met with at 

 the present day, we here present our readers with 

 iifac simile of one of the earliest coins issued : 



At the October session in 1786, Mr. Harmon ap- 

 plicil to the legislature and procured an extension 

 of the time, for which ho was to be allowed the 

 exclusive right to coin coppers, to tlje period of 

 eight years after the first of .Inly, J787. Tlie weight 

 of the pieces was fixed by law at ipwt. 15 grs.^and 

 they were, after that period, to have on one side, a 

 head with the motto Ancturitiite. t'erinontensunn-, 

 and on the other a wornan, with the letters INDE. 



ET LIB, for independence and liberty. Jfr. Har- 

 mon, for liis exclusive privilege, was, after the ex- 

 piration of three of , the eight years, to pay into the 

 treasury of the state two and a half per cent, of all 

 the copper he should coin during the remainder of 

 the term, and enter into a bond of jE.'iOOO with suf- 

 ficient surety for the faithful performance of his 

 trust. " 



