Independence Hall, Philadelphia

scene of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. The hall was begun in 1732 and completed in 1741. J. Kearsely was the architect, and E. Wooley the builder. It was first occupied as the Pennsylvania State House in October, 1735. The tower was built in 1750. The Constitutional Convention of 1787 also met here. Independent Treasury. Until 1840the United States Government had never ventured to a ume entire control of its own funds, depending ina great measure upon the two succe ive banks of the United States, and various State banks selected by the Secretary of the Treasury for depositories. The creation of an independent or sub-treasury system was an outcome of the panic of 1837. President Van Buren’s me age to Congre that year strongly recommended such a system. Silas Wright, of New York, submitted a sub-treasury bill, which prohibited; Government agents from receiving anything but gold and silver. Finally, in 1840, the bill became a law, and sub-treasuries were created at New York, Boston, Charleston and St. Louis, the mint at Philadelphia and the branch mint at New Orleans being also made places of deposit. The Whigs and some Democrats were violently opposed to this system, and effected its repeal in 1841 in favor of the national banking system. It again became a law in 1846 under Polk, and has continued since.