received notice from William Seton that the Bank of New York was in trouble, Hamilton wished to have the government make purchases as it had in 1791, but was unable to do so while Jefferson and Randolph stood opposed. While still waiting for Jay's formal and deciding vote, Randolph began to side with Hamilton on March 26, and with only Jefferson dissenting, the commission authorized $100,000 in open-market purchases of securities. In a series of letters to Seton at the Bank of New York, Hamilton introduced several measures to restore normalcy to the securities market. Hamilton encouraged the bank to continue offering loans collateralized by US debt securities, but at a slightly increased rate of interest – seven percent instead of six. In order to persuade the Bank of New York to lend during the panic, Hamilton also promised that the US Treasury would buy from the bank up to $500,000 of securities should the Bank of New York be stuck with excessive collateral. Similarly, Hamilton supported the Bank of Maryland's lending by offering to have the US Treasury cover loans made to merchants paying duties. By April 16, after Hamilton authorized an additional $150,000 of open-market purchases by the Bank of New York, Seton reported that market demand was returning to normal. In just under a month, Hamilton was thus able to stabilize the securities market and prevent the panic from inducing a recession. By exerting his power as Secretary of Treasury and persuading a number of banks to continue offering credit throughout the crisis, Hamilton was able to limit the amount of Federal debt purchases by the Sinking Fund Commission to $243,000 – roughly $100,000 less than what was spent during the smaller panic in 1791. Analysis Economists and economic historians have noted that Hamilton's management of the Panic of 1792 appears to have anticipated Henry Thornton by ten years and "Bagehot's Dictum" by approximately 80 years. This prescription, that in a crisis central banks should "lend freely, against good collateral, at a penalty rate" is still considered the gold standard for managing a financial panic as the "lender of last resort". See also List of banking crises References 1792 in the United States Economic crises in the United States Financial crises 1792 in economics Wall Street History of banking in the United States Fiscal policy Real estate in the United States Securities (finance) Credit Alexander Hamilton