Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1815-11-11
70 rnE nD1roR or rnz xxorfnnR.

X.
Sir,
l have no cause 20 question the fccts
asserted by Aurelus as to the management
of the Banks or New-Yorh. ] have no
doubt Of the solidty of those Institutions
It's not enough, however, to state the O.
mount of iodns and circulating notes, and
C'dhtaL The amount of DEPOSITS should al
so be known before an accurate opinion
can be formed of their real situatiou. A
Bank may greatly over-trade without issu-
ing large amount of notes. In the great
trading cities, the proportion of notes is We
~ small. In the Southern aud Western
towns the DEPOSITS are less, and the notes
(having an extensive country range) very
numerous. In every clse, the more pru-
Sl,ntly the Banks have been conducted, the
more easy will it be to resume specie pay
rents. The evils from the suspension
shave incr. ased, are in ;rcasing. ard ought
TO be diminished" In estimating the eff
fec,s of return of specie payments, we
should not compare them with the present
state OF things The crceSs of paper mo-
ney is, in a measure, kept downby the an
ticipation Of that return. We should look
back to the event of our continental paper
Tnoney,to the South Sea scheme in England,
s. to Mr. Laws project in France. The ex-
cess, if continued, will furnish every faci.i
ty to the abuse of credit, and encourage
the widest speculauons. The disease
will lead to the death of public confidence,
and the remedy ought to be adapted to
radical cure. Remove the obligati n on the
Banks to meet the demands on them with
specie, and what is the control over their
iSsuess If there was only ore Bank in the
Unired States, limitation might be sought
for in the charter; but, when there is no
~. I,,. {
which may extend its loans to two or three
times the amount of its capital, when and
where" is the evil to stop? 1t cannot be
supposed, that the existing Banks will o.
pen their vaults without a preparatory
curta'lmeat. a temporary interruption to
the course of speculations we must risk,
TO insure the permanent benefits Of secure
circulating medium, and it is a libel upon
the enterprise and resources of our citizens
to doubt their ability to meet the exigency.
The overlooking current of circulation will
soon fall within its own natural boundaries,
and confidence be again restored The a.
mount of paper medium will then, as for
merly, be regulated not by the amount of
gold and silver i'll the country, but by the
demand required for the convenient inter
change OF commodities. Specie will be us
ed as the Instrument to check tie e:rcess of
cribe the present scarcity of gold and sill.
yer to the diminished produce OF the mines.
Those metals have, in fact, been totally
showed out of circulation by currency ex-
clusively of paper, and are now boarded at
home, or gone abroad to countries where
they compose almost the only circulating
medium. The great demand for bullion in
England, was not on account OF the home
employment, but owing to the necessity for
1t on the continent, ITO pay and furnish her
troops) where the notes of the Bank of
England were Of no value. That drain
being stopped and the paper medium of
that country not being much beyond what
the increasing commerce requires, the
price of gold and silver has nearly return
sed to The original rates, Spanish dollars Will
not command in London more than Is. Sd.
IN Bank-paper; & guineas are now passing
at par.~
From the prices current of Boston, New
York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, we find
she rate OF foreign Exchange, to keep ex-
act pace with the depreciation of Bank pa
per. Taking specie as the standard, it is
IL favor of The United States, in as much
as bills on London may be bought in the
several places at rather a lower advance
than specie.t
A law to restrain the expectation Of gold
and silver, asrecommendedby e" Aurelius,"
VIII be vain and imperative. Its misera-
bic policy. Spain and Portugal have at
tempted by the sevcrest pepalties to pre-
vent their expectation and yet dollars and
halt-Joes are to be seen in every quarter nf
the Globe. Such a law Will only lead us
into the temptation of fraud and perjury.
LOMBARDUS.
Such is The information Of two Virginia Mer-
'hants Just arrived fiep EngianG-Thcy adj that
vessel from BDston which had brought specie to
Liverpool, had mt With discouraginE market.
J 10 Boston the exchange is from to per ceut.
2e910 par-in ~ York ii is from 10 20 l2 aJ0ue it,
Why this dstnetioul II is not from the state or the
balance "a trsde-but the state Of the circulating
medium.
is scarcely necessary TO sc call the ghost" Of n
can smith TO tell Us, that where the currency ola
Iauon IS worn or cipt, from say other cause de-
p'eels'ed, exchange flows against It in the precise
ratio Of It's depreciation. See the Dissertation on the
"aok oil Amsterdam, &c in the Ueahh Of Nations
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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.