Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1815-12-12


From ono hundred dollars to five cents,
signed by Pr sidents, Cashiers, Teliers,
Mayors, and private rsons. and are
| poured into the currcIt circulation, while
! the Legislative authorities seem quite uas-
| siVe and indifferent, under 4 usurp, ton >,f
one OF Their highest prerogatives, ard on
the proper exercise OF VIII CHI so mainly rest
the security of general credit, and the
sanctity OF private dealings.
~ cry has been "a scd, about violation
OF natural liberty, il one set OF men be r.
trained from issuing their promissory notes
| at pleasure, and another set Of men from
zvitlinSy receiving them in payment. This
| cry not new one-sinilar inter SITS and
/ motives have raised it in other times aud
| pl ces and it is answered in a very salts
factory manner by the author SO often re-
ferred to. "
The prolix and dilfirsive manner of wri
tif'ss OF MIR p stlethwait, tenders qu tat
ons from his work inconvenient-but who
cver VIII atten,ively read the article of
banks, IN his Dictionary ofC mmei ce, will
! see that he POUNDS the benefits Of banking
to the community, on principles similar to
those OF DR.. Smith, and tnat he assigns c.
ven narrower limits, to the excess of notes
which a bank can prudently put into circu-
lahon beyond the amount of hs cash CAPT
tai and depos ts,-'' Nothing else ought to
be understood or bank, but that it is !. re-
postory CT cash, OF other movable trea-
sure; and that, therefore, no other fund
can be itly applied to banking, except re-
al ready money, or what is always capable
readily to produce it.,'--Again, "And al
though creiit in this way of dealing will go
great lengths, yet there must always be
Kept proportion of cash, sufficient TO
give every one his money on demand, who
comes Tor it ; and that bank or banker who
begins foundation of credit in this way,
ought not to extend it beyond 1-4Jh part
beyond his hard ash."-Dict. oTCoDs. n.
ls5, l96.-tMr. Hume, in his admirable
essays on Money, Interest and public cred
1t, makes the utility OF Banks, altogether a
quest enable point and makes, upon the
whoie, very scanty admissions in their fa-
vcr-- To these authorities of half century
past, much might be added cut Of the ex-
tensive and very abe discussions to which
the English Bank restriction bill has given
rlie from the year 1877 to the present time,
on the one side, by those connected with
the bank and the ministry, and on the 9TH
er, by. those of more liberal and disnteres-
ted sentiments in the nation at large-The
able editors Of the Edinburgh Journal, in re-
viewing this important controversy, have
not withheld their earnest animadvers;ons.
Let the reader for moment consider in
what drcadfully critical state must the
property and contracts of country be
placed, which has paper currency net re-
ferabie to any commodity of inti insic worth
for the correction OF its quantity or main
tenance ofits value. and which might con-
sequentIy sink, in the course of a few months.
SO or 100 per cent. below tie value of the
precious metals, and deprive individuals
et hall their fortunes, and yet appear un
changeable. The moment we quit the
precious metals, as the constant standard
OF reference, there is no fancy so aid, res
Pectlng paper circulation, zphich n1au not
DC INDUCED. and Ho limit TO the degree of
depreciation which may not in time be ex-
pected''.-E. Il. No. XXXIV. II. 358
II such language can be reasonably used
and such approximations entertained in
respect to the paper of the Bank of
England, a Bank so fixed and old in
IT'S CT. dit and confidence, SO propt
by the whole credit and influence
OF the government, whose paper has never
been supposed to have deprecated more
than 20 per cent. and that fact most ably
contested,what language * what apprehen-
sions may we not entertain with regard to
thc paper currency of this country?
1t Is plain, that our notions of govern
ment, Jurisprudence, commerce, manufac-
lures, and even Customs, are ali derivatiye
from English models. In some cases par
tculariy, IN political institutions, we lave
greatly improved upon the model-in 9th
ers, the imitation has been lame and inn
perfect for example, the adventurous
spirit ct commercial speculation seems to
have been carried 10 a wilder excess in this
country, than i'll England, because it is not
subject to the same checks to limit and
correct it-That spirit is calculated topro-
duce rapid indications of prosperity, very
specious and seduc ing but hazardous and
premature it constantly Graves an e7<tcn-
sim of paper cred t. as its best SUPPORT ard
nurse, and those who aim at profit, by ex-
tending that kind of credit, feel equal y
strong motives for carrying it to mischiev-
Gus excessive have nothing similar to
the Bank of England-no old establisr ID
body OF monied men, possessed of great
capital and general confidence, whose notes
circulate through the whole community.
and serve as touchstone to try at once
the credit of all private banks, and whose
intimate connection with the interests of the
government, keeps the attention of the lat
Ter constantly alive to the state of credit and
circulation. The not, If private bankers
are not hinged indiscrimna,e in the
general circulation Of that nation.-
The notes OF each private banker, cjrcu.
late only within the sphere of his business.
when he is known and trusted, and can be
at any moment exchanged for a med um,
that is the known general currency of the
nation so that theu rio ,,rt H.. - =. -.