Secretary authorized to enter into contracts.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Treasury, to enter into contracts in the name and for and on behalf of the United States, with the said banks so selected or employed, whereby the said banks shall stipulate to do and perform the several duties and services prescribed by this act.
No bank selected to be discontinued but for certain causes.Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That no bank which shall be selected or employed as the place of deposite of the public money, shall be discontinued as such depository, or the public money withdrawn therefrom, except for the causes hereinafter mentioned, that is to say: if at any time, any one of said banks shall fail or refuse to perform any of said duties as prescribed by this act, and stipulated to be performed by its contract; or, if any of said banks shall at any time refuse to pay its own notes in specie if demanded; or shall fail to keep in its vaults such an amount of specie as shall be required by the Secretary of the Treasury, and shall be, in his opinion, necessary to render the said bank a safe depository of the public moneys, having due regard to the nature of the business transacted by the bank; in any and every such case it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to discontinue any such bank as a depository, and withdraw from it the public moneys which it may hold on deposite at the time of such discontinuance. And in case of the discontinuance of any of said banks, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to report to Congress immediately if in session, and if not in session, then at the commencement of its next session, the facts and reasons which have induced such discontinuance. And in case of the discontinuance of any of said banks as a place of deposite of the public money for any of the causes herein before provided, it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Treasury to deposite the money thus withdrawn in some other banks of deposite already selected, or to select some other bank as a place of deposite, upon the terms and conditions prescribed by this act. And in default of any bank to receive such deposite, the money thus withdrawn shall be kept by the Treasurer of the United States, according to the laws now in force; and shall be subject to be disbursed according to law.
Banks now employed to be continued until, &c.Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That until the Secretary of the Treasury shall have selected and employed the said banks as places of deposite of the public money, in conformity to the provisions of this act, the several State and District banks at present employed as depositories of the money of the United States, shall continue to be the depositories aforesaid upon the terms and conditions upon which they have been so employed.
Secretary to lay a statement before Congress.Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to lay before Congress, at the commencement of each annual session, a statement of the number and names of the banks employed as depositories of the public money, and of their condition, and the amount of public money deposited in each, as shown by their returns at the Treasury; and if the selection of any bank as a depository of the public money be made by the Secretary of the Treasury, while Congress is in session, he shall immediately report the name and condition of such bank to Congress; and if any such selection shall be made during the recess of Congress, he shall report the same to Congress during the first week of its next session.
Bank to pay interest under certain circumstances.Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That whenever the amount of public deposites to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States, in any bank shall, for a whole quarter of a year, exceed one-fourth part of the amount of the capital stock of such bank actually paid in, the banks shall allow and pay to the United States, for the use of the excess of the deposites over the one-fourth part of its capital, an interest at the rate of two per centum per annum, to be calculated for each quarter, upon the average excesses of the quarter; and it shall be the duty of the