Gold was shipped through the blockade at Mobile to pay the interest on the State bonded debt held in London. It has been charged that this money was borrowed from the Central, Commercial, and Eastern Banks and was never repaid, recovery being denied on the ground that the State could not be sued.[21] But the banks received State and Confederate bonds under the new banking law in return for their coin. The exchange was willingly made, for otherwise the banks would have had to continue specie payments or forfeit their charters. And to continue specie payments meant immediate bankruptcy.[22] After the war, the State was forbidden to pay any debt incurred in aid of the war, nor could the bonds issued in aid of the war be redeemed. The banks suffered just as all others suffered, and it is difficult to see why the State should make good the losses of the banks in Confederate bonds, and not make good the losses of private individuals. To do either would be contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment. The last statement of the condition of the Alabama Treasury was as follows: Balance in Treasury, September 30, 1864 $3,713,959 Receipts, September 30, 1864 to May 24, 1865 3,776,188 --------- Total 7,490,147 Disbursements, September 30, 1864 to May 24, 1865 6,698,853 --------- Balance in Treasury 791,294 The balance was in funds as follows: Checks on Bank of Mobile payable in Confederate notes $ 11,440 Certificate of deposit, Bank of Mobile, payable in Confederate notes 1,330 Confederate and State notes in Treasury 517,889 State notes, change bills (legal shin plasters) 250,004 Notes of State banks and branches 358 Bank notes 424 Silver 337 Gold on hand 497 Gold on deposit in Northern banks 35 --------- Balance $ 791,294 To dispose of nearly seven million dollars in small notes must have kept the Treasury very busy during the last seven months of its existence. It is interesting to note that the Treasury kept at work until May 24, 1865, six weeks after the surrender of General Lee. THE PATROL AT BARNEGAT