Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1815-11-29

traders, to throw extraordinary rain into
the hands ct others ;" and by giving to
mercantile Transactions and every other
species OF traffic the appearance Of haz
ard and peril, to deter men of property
and cauIion from engaging in business,
whilst spectators and chmerical rroiec-
to's become the sole managers Of the traf
hck of sooiety. The reputable and useful
sc ETY. OF merchants, viii thus dwindlc into
q dishonest and contemplate association
Of brokers'. Every merchant will be com
PEELED to become more or less stock
jobb.r and shaver Of deprecated pap r.
Instead ct schemes leading to national adj
want s., and springing from the spirit ot
adventurous commerce, every brain viii
be filed with dirty calculations ofturn
ing penny by the shaving of paper, or
the exchange OF bark bills 1t a profitable
d cunt Who VIII venture TO assert
th the reputable mercantile character
has not already in some degree been al
f,ctal by Shis metsmorphosis /? II we are
not mistaken, here is in the foregoing sug-
geS'ions already as much of history as Of
Er0hhccy.
An tier great ard unavoidable evil at
tcnlaRt upon the too great emission of
b1uk PAPER and IT'S consequent deprec;a-
tor, Is the general alarm It creates i'll So
ciety, ard the II avy run upon the banks to
which it must give rise. The effect of
such state OF things is to distress the
hanks. and to harrass their dealers !;
whist 1T the same tune it mas 4 tenden-
cv to adj to the fuctuat;on of the quantity
Of medium in cir ulation, by nderirg it
as much too scarce IS it was before too q
bundant. The evils of this fuctuation
VII be descanted on hereafter. 1t is SUI
hCient here 70 observe, that il from the too
great quantity of paper in circulation, the
banks are compelled to draw it in, the
newt bic eject is 20 render the quantity
of currency less than before--lf course to
render it more dca", and to lower the price
of conmod ties. Here then the fiuctua-
t on in price is clearly established.
But these rms upon the banks have an-
o,her eff c.. Ttey compel those inst;tu
rs t curtQH. The dealers arc thus
called on to paw part of their debts, when
money IS every moment becoming more
scarce, as has just been shewn. They
find themselves compelled therefore to
sacrifice property, or t. deliver themselves
into the hands of shaver The first of
these steps is usually first attempted This
brings a great deal Of property TO mar
kcr-the number Of sellers is great: the
buyers are few property falls, ard he
win has summed the shaver, falls mo the
hands uf the specul.tor.
Any depreciation Of the currency pro-
duces more or less the evils consequent
upon general failure Of paper credf, be
c use it. necessarily leads to the want Of
confidence in the medium. We fell this
at the present moment for NJ one N
doubt tuat 1.-THE banks were to commence
the Payu ent of specie Tomorrow, there
would be temporary run upon them al,
until conf en-, c sh 1uld be restored BY the
c0nyi ton that all could m Ct tue de-
,' ds upon til IN. 1t would be waste OF
time TO dil tie upon the shock to society
which taime Of p2pcr credit always
occasions. Evety mind at cnce recurs 70
the e1cs which followed cur revolution:
and il the evil was then felt, it must be in
I'm ely greater in the present commerc i
STATE of the country. Ga
Bat it vii, be ASKED how are these evils
peculiarly chargeable upon private or un =
chartered banks. | answer, because they
have none to controul the issue OF their
paper thy keep their own secrets =
they e. It whateyc- they please they e
rect "a emselvas il every Corner Of society
wher- borrowers whether with views Of
advantage or extravaganza can be had
and from desire 70 make handsome d.
viaends, and the increasing competition in
the Blinking business, they daily become
more soctous about the annual Brqft.
than the fey Ct their business.
Ca It ne said that these arc visonary
iis9 Look At the S otch bank Of which
Dr. 5 it'll (under whose msntle the aivo-
Gates Of the new banks arr 8 eltered) his
given US SO ample a. account Il was G.
ctc1 wien ;he paper in ciycHla zion was
fully equal - what could easily be ID
serb -Whsn the OIL b nks hd no
IN re 81 end and had even overtraded
ttie. O. Tn II dealers who had Dor
rowed much, were vexed IN they could
no, borrow more. and the old Banks we're
lou ilY ensured for the distress brought
upon tn -ir customers by refusing to give
them farther assist nee. &c J In the raidst
or this lamour, tie new bank was e.tSb-
hshed, for the express purpose Of relieving
the distress OF the country as it was ell
ed and beg leave to subioin from Dr
Smith the foilowing account of their
transactions. (d) One woud almost ina
CINE he was d picting what had taken
place among ours Ives
" The design vas generous, but the ex-
ecuti0n i.nprudent, and the nature and
Cfuses Of the distress it was me5nt to re-
lieve, not perhaps unde stood This bank
was more A6erai than any others had ever
been, tn granting digcoVnf8;' Tand this
was at a time when according t. our au-
thor the q culaUOn was already FULL
" 1t was their avowedpiinciplc. toadvance
The capital for improve cn.s f viii n the
returns are 8Io7e, 8uch as the iBlhyoye-
ments If LAND. (e) BY is lberahty, It