17 0 Hadden—Early Banking in Wisconsin. 
certificates, making loans and discounts, and doing a general 
banking business, the legislature began to question the legal¬ 
ity of its proceedings. No action however was taken until 
April, 1843, when a committee was appointed to investigate the 
affairs of the company. The report of this committee recom¬ 
mended the repeal of its charter because the issue of notes was 
held to be a violation of the provision, “nothing herein con¬ 
tained shall give the company banking privileges. ” Meanwhile 
Mr. Mitchell, the able young secretary of the company, submit¬ 
ted a communication to the legislature in which he maintained 
that the “legislature has no power to determine its (the cor¬ 
poration’s) rights while acting in the three-fold capacity of 
party interested, a jury, and a court. * * * To the decree 
of the proper legal tribunal the company will cheerfully submit.” 
Furthermore he positively denied (and continued to deny up to 
the day of his death), that the company had in the least vio¬ 
lated its charter. 
A majority of the committee (three out of five) in their report 
declared “that a court of law is the proper place to determine 
the question whether or not the company has violated its 
charter. * * * They (the committee) are not satisfied that 
it would at this time be expedient to commence any new Terri¬ 
torial suits. ” 
The legislature was not so sure of its ground as to carry the 
matter into the courts. The assembly was almost evenly divided 
upon the question. The greater part of the session was taken 
up with the debates. Discussion waxed hot on both sides. 
Alexander Mitchell and George Smith exerted all the influence 
they possessed to prevent any hostile legislation, and at length 
they were successful. A joint resolution to vacate the charter 
was amended and finally laid upon the table until July 4th, 1845, 
by the close vote of thirteen to eleven. No question was raised 
during the entire discussion in regard to the solvency or man¬ 
agement of the institution, as it was well known and often as¬ 
serted that its condition was beyond reproach, its circulation 
as “good as gold,” and its management by Alexander Mitchell 
abler than that of any bank in the northwest. The only point 
over which so much of the time of the legislature was wasted 
