To James Madison from Alexander J. Dallas, 27 August 1816
From Alexander J. Dallas
27 Aug. 1816.
Dear Sir
The Bank subscription is filled. The deficit of the general returns, 3,000,000. Dollars, was taken by Mr. Girard, in a single line, to the great disappointment of the Brokers and Speculators.1 I congratulate you upon this event. There is little doubt of the organization of the Bank being republican, and friendly to the Government.
The Cumberland road presents new embarrassments; and I shall have occasion to trouble you upon the subject, as soon as I reach Washington, which will probably be on Sunday next. I am, Dear Sir, most respectfully & faithfully Yrs.
A. J. Dallas
RC (CSmH).
1. After consulting with fellow bank directors William Jones and Pierce Butler in Philadelphia, Stephen Girard formed a consortium to subscribe to the remaining shares of the Bank of the United States to the amount of $3,038,300. By doing so he not only assisted the bank but also increased his control over the number of proxy votes in its management (Donald R. Adams Jr., Finance and Enterprise in Early America: A Study of Stephen Girard’s Bank, 1812–1831 [Philadelphia, 1978], 56–57; John Bach McMaster, The Life and Times of Stephen Girard: Mariner and Merchant [2 vols.; Philadelphia, 1918], 2:314).