| THE STATE IN THE MARYLAND ECONOMY, 1776-1807 241
the legislature was tabled and no further attempts were made
to establish a bank in Maryland for six years.
In 1790 a demand for American foodstuffs, occasioned by
the outbreak of war in Europe, spurred the business revival.
Since Maryland had not issued any paper money after the Rev-
olution, credit and circulation facilities for handling the up-
surge, which soon reached all forms of industry and commerce,
proved to be inadequate.=38 This time the advocates of a bank
did not organize a bank before petitioning the legislature,
probably, as Bryan says, to avoid a notoriety that might preju-
dice their chances of incorporation .2411
As the first incorporation of a bank in Maryland, the Bank
of Maryland Act of 1790 deserves some scrutiny. The charter
itself was in " brief, general, and plenary terms," unlike
the later Maryland banks which took as a model the more
" lengthy, detailed," and " restrictive " language of the char-
ter of the Bank of the United States.=" The bank of Mary-
land possessed the same amount of capital that had been
proposed -for it in 1784, a perpetual charter, a somewhat Tegres-
sive stock voting system, limited liability, limits on its debt
and issues, and no requirement to make any reports to the
legislature. The state had reserved no stock in the bank for
itself, so perhaps it felt reports to the Assembly unnecessary.
Chosen quarterly from among the directors, a committee of
three was to inspect the accounts of the bank weekly.=42
By the end of the next year sufficient stockholders had paid
up to enable the Bank of Maryland to organize and open for
business in Baltimore. Among its famous subscribers were
William Patterson (its president); James Carey, Samuel Smith,
Robert Oliver, Robert Gilmor, Alexander McKim, Richard
tae Bryan, pp. 18-19. Credit certificates on tobacco, which were
exchangeable
for bills on London, could be obtained after inspection by state officials
who
listed the quality -and quantity of tobacco. At this time, however, wheat
and
flour exports exceeded tobacco, and although these products were inspected
for
purity, no certificates were issued.
aso Ibid., p. 19.
2" Bray Hammond, Banks ağd Politics in America from the Revolution to the
Civil War (Princeton, 1957) , p. 129. The Bank of Maryland Act was passed
December 14, 1'790, the same day that Alexander Hamilton submitted his " Re-
port on a National Bank " to Congress.
2`$ Md. Sess., 1790 c. 5, Bryan, pp. 29-30. No allotment of shares to be
sub-
scribed by people in counties outside Baltimore City was made, as was the
prac-
tice in later Maryland banks.
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