The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1806-01-11

-" dur " Shey have tuch capital, we fheuId
ifnfer them ie fay that il can fall mort of
$4,000 dolls. Surely asn~ng 70 MANY merchants,
there .inH be private apital to this amount.
~ adi'hg this fappefed capital, therefore, 70
re 1.5ooooo dolls. which the bank of Alexan-
ana Is authorized TO emit, we find that the
merchanfs oftha place have the command of
'ufhc'ent fhm 70 purchaf- all their exports.
But the gentleman from, Faueuier fi,ppo.cs,
that the bank of Aexandrid would never iffiies
more paper thanthe smount of it's fpecie, be-
canie oiberTrife i, might happen, that the b,nk
G"u'n nor redeem the whole of fnch paper.
but this fuppoi ion cannot be correS9. other
wife the ftoekholjets could never receive fas
they have done) or per cent. upon their mo
new. The moft which Gan pofEby be made by
any bank whole difcount is only equal to it's
capital, is about II per cent. and this FUN is
only made by the interets becoming principal
! at the expiration Of every so DAYS. For the
committee mutt recollef, that the hank intereft
does not exceed 6 per cent. year. But will
INTERN the gentleman, that the expences Of
the establishment, the Glaries of its numerous
onccrs, and the lofts occaiioned from bad
debts, Tnuf all be deducted from the profits
before dividend can he declared. Thefe cir
cunftances thew that the bank of Alexandria
matt 'iine notes to the full extent allowed by
| law, or ellie there never could be dividend of
or per cent. after making fmch large deduc-
tIons from the profits. Beidcs, the danger
winch the gentleman apprehe,ds, could fcarce-
ly ever fall upon the hank. II i. po,lis,le, to he
| lure, but of all things the mott improbable, for
the notes of the Alexandra bank TO circulate in
every part OF this fate, in every part of Marry
| land, and probably throughout the United
States. Can it be believed, then, that the innu.
| merahle holders of thefe notes, fcattered about
| the union as they are, mould on one and the
| fame day, prefent themiisr payment? Unouef.
! tionably not. The opinion of the gentleman
upon this point, therefore, is as fallacious as
the reafon on which it is founded.
But let US admit, for few morpeAts, that his
| idea Is correct that no hank will itTuc more
notes than the amount of it's fpecie capital, !"
| ''ii the merchants Of Alexandria cannot require
| another bank. For the bank of Columbia, and
the branch bank of the United States, a, well
as the Alexandria bank, are all within the ten
miles fquare coded to the general government
| Ihe capital of each of thefe banks (astf,e docu-
| fnent before me proves) is SOC, 900 dolls. So
that there is, within that ifoated fquarc, bank
ing capital of 100000 dolls. Georgetown,
where the Columbia bank is ftationed, is place
or very uncomfortable trade, for have been
credibly informed, that there is not an export
ing merchant in the whole town. The city of
| Warrington is perhaps place of no trade, fo
that there is banking capita! in fpecie of 500
600 idols. in s. convenient to Alex at her
ervice. If, therefore, the merchants of Alex
have private capital of only 100000, 900
DOS. in gold and FLYER, they mutt have the COM
mand OF fuificient fpscie to pay for all their ex
| ports, for fuch an amount of private capital adj
aed to the ipccie capitals of thefe three banks,
makes the exact fun neceifary for the purchafe
OF ALL thu produce carried to their market.
In either point of view, therefore, the mcr-
chants OF Alexandria have as much CAPITAL as
/ IN ANN,
IT am correct in fuppuiag that thefe three
banks will ifue notes to three times the amount
or their feveral capitals, then it follows that
there are 1854 900 dolls. now at the dirpofaI OF
thoie banks, which cannot be ufcd by the mer-
chants in Alexandria. Befides in making this
latter eftimste, / have taken no notice of the
private capital of the merchants. From the
foregoing tatements, ] am clearly of opinion
| that the merchants of Alexandria already hav,
tbs means of obtaining more money than the,
can commercially expend, and this opinion i.
| strengthened by the fact "that three-fourtb,
or four-tfths of the capital of the Alexandra
bank is devoted to agricultural purpof.s."
| MIR. Love replied to the arguments of Mr.
Byrd, at comfortable length. He replied par
ticuiary to his itasements on the exoediency o
increaiing the banking capital of Alcxasdria:
The comparative view of exports and caD
tai made by the gentleman from lie of Wight
forms an important fubje6t of difcufIion, ir
making up our opinions. l will, therefore, If
the firft place purdue it.
1t has been correctly aated, that the export
OF Alexandria amounted, for the year ending
with Sept. 1905, to about 1916 900 /; in thi,
Ultimate was included the extenfive exports O
Hour ;but in this Ultimate were not included tb,
coaitwlie exports of other articles fuch as wheat
corn, hemp, &c. Thefe additional items be
IIeve may, without danger of error, be admit
ted to fwell the fun of exports from Alexan
dria to more than 100000 dolls.
In addition to thefc exports, there is anothe,
KIND which the commerce of that part of tn,
country claims, which it is impofible to afcer
tain the amount of |; but when mention il. +
will be conceded that it is no triHc. I mrar
that kind of exPortationof the articles of forcipr
: growth, which altho' Norfolk or New Yor,
! may have credit for the amount of, thew ar,
made on the capital furniihed by Virginia tt
, Alexandria. Thus, fir: merchant of Alexan
dria hips his flour to the WeftIndies, he gets il
exchange cargo of coffee, &c. which he find
1t his nterett to fend TO Europe for market
: His yeffel touches at one of thofc MARTINI
ports, merely to neutralize her cargo, and pro
, ceeds, altho' an export thus made by an Alex
) andria merchant is not noticed to the credit @
Il Alexandra. This, FIR, is an climate of at leaa
willfuppofe, 25o,ooo dollars. ~ 90
There are fubjects of trade, which, in Alex