Thomas Law to Thomas Jefferson, 26 November 1813
From Thomas Law
Philadelphia Novr 26. 1813.
Dear Sir—
I was favored with your accompaniement to my thoughts on banking & have reason to believe that Treasury notes will be issued to a larger Amount—The Banks here took them as Cash for a subsn to Govts Loan, as they were glad to obtain them—
The enclosed Petn is rapidly signing & the Corporation is anxious to have the Bank. in Hamburgh a similar bank pays 150000 Crowns to the State see Adam Smith—
I am convinced that a Govt might support several useful Institutions by Banks, the profits of which, monied men already too rich take to themselves—
T Law—
RC (DLC); written on sheet folded to form four pages, with enclosure on p. 3; addressed: “To Thomas Jefferson Esqr Monticello Virginia”; franked; postmarked Philadelphia, 26 Nov.; endorsed by TJ as received 13 Dec. 1813 and so recorded in SJL.
The corporation was Philadelphia’s city government. adam smith wrote that “The city of Hamburgh has established a sort of public pawn-shop, which lends money to the subjects of the state upon pledges at six per cent. interest. This pawn-shop or Lombard, as it is called, affords a revenue, it is pretended, to the state of a hundred and fifty thousand crowns, which, at four and sixpence the crown, amounts to 33,750 l. sterling” (An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations [London, 1776; no. 3546], 2:416).
Index Entries
- banks; European search
- banks; petitions for incorporation of search
- banks; T. Law on search
- Hamburg (German city-state); banks in search
- Law, Thomas; letters from search
- Law, Thomas; on banks and banking search
- Law, Thomas; on interest-bearing treasury notes search
- Philadelphia; banks search
- Smith, Adam; on bank in Hamburg search
- Treasury Department, U.S.; treasury notes search