To James Madison from Robert Lee, 6 February 1815
From Robert Lee
Rahway, (N.J.) Feby 6th. 1815.
Sir,
The enclosed was prepared for the national intelligencer, but the time is too short for its being communicated thro that channel.1 Will the peculiar state of our finances, as made know[n] by Mr. Dallas and yourself, excuse the extraordinary liberty I take in addressing it direct to you?
I am well aware, Sir, that your time is precious, very precious. Nothing less than an ardent desire to serve a sinking and suffering country could induce me to levy a tax of one moment upon it. I am, Sir, with sincere respect Yours &c.
Robt: Lee
RC and enclosure (DLC). Cover sheet docketed by JM: “Bank Projects.”
1. The enclosed essay (8 pp.), signed “AN AMERICAN” and dated 6 Feb. 1815 at Woodbridge, New Jersey, proposed that the federal government provide a circulating medium to supplement the specie so scarce in the country by issuing a national paper currency. The paper should be made legal tender for payment of debts and taxes, be loaned at an interest of not more than five percent by government offices in each state and exchanged there for banknotes and specie, and be redeemable no more than ten years after the end of the war. These provisions, Lee asserted, would ensure the value of the currency. He argued furthermore that this temporary expedient would not threaten independent banks in the long run as would a permanent national bank, and that the interest paid on the currency by borrowers would provide the government with much-needed income in the meantime.