Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1816-02-10
[VOL. 42.-NO. so.

| ana Alexandria, as TO answer the purposes
OF the trade. If they SHOULD not, brokers
| OF their paper will be established IL Il ,lti-
| more and Alexandria, VIII will su,jpy the
merchants with these notes below par, and
enable them to purchase the produce OF
this part of Virginia with what Is no where
an equivalent,e1d thus ia the vulg phrase
we viii make the razor with which we are
to be shaved.
The propositions contained in rp. 4s,J
appear like many others in this report TO
be designed chiefly as a rhetorical flourish
to fill up the chasms Of sentences. How,
Tor instance, this newborn, unbaptised.
unordalned, accommodated bank paper
viii be safer to those who use, it because
guarded by their vigilance than that of Bal
timore which is guarded by is vigiisnce
and ours too, can be urged for no other
reason than the sound of the period. The
vigilance Of Argus was GUIDED by the rnu-
SIC OF Mer uTy, the God Of Eleuuencc, but
the cadence OF sentences ON a bank ques-
tlon am persua AIDED Will deceive 10 BODY,
though 1t may iull tn I'm to sleep. The com
inlttee should have shcwn that we not only
nave Deter bank police tran Baltimore,
Dut that Virginia is more vigilaGt than both
Virginia and Baltimore together, will not
B-iumore and Alexandria paper on the
contrary be more narrowly watched than
our own from State jealousy and distrust OF
every thing foreign, and an overweening
confidence III every thing domestic : But
THIS new stock viii not only be safe because
guarded by cur ~ r,lauce, but in the same
drowsy tune it viii be productive Of rrofis
because supplied by our capital, FIRST
then. the object of theS banks is to supolv
deficient capital and then it is to empiov
an excessive one. Have we both too much
and too little capitals II the committee
mean that 1t will yield q profit Co the few
stock-owners, of what advantage | ask
viii that be to the country Those stock
owners would otherwise divert their cani-
tai into agricultural, manufacturing or
commercial channels They would in that
case derive their profit from something
winch would Increase thu real wealth and
resources OF Che nation, and not from 2 de-
based, deprecated manufacture of stained
paper, made payable to bearer in other
sta ned paper.
Bot then bonus of half million. Aht
there is the argument. Can such a tenn
tatioa be resisted What 4 fascinat oc-
thesry money viii be raised, without tax
es. But when we rememberwha { became 4
the bonus of the Farmers bank. we bad
better pause little before we act. When
we see otaer nations too, which have be-
covering all the seas, their manuf.ctuces
croWding every market, their agriculture
making an entire country one extended
garden, their Internal improvements feed
ing every section of their wide dominiorS
with canals, turnpikes, railways, &c. &c.
and all this without bonus, we had betttr
look before we leap in the dark, led on tcc
byguides whom we have seen missing thei,,
way at every turn, and fountcring in TIE
mire OF their own paper-paved highways.
mad from comparing the prizes Of various
doticies IN the last Is years, that money
mas deprecated at the rate of ct least 9 I q
per ceat. annually, * that tn ratio is every
day increasing. The quantity Of bank ma
per which these Is banks with thejr.pro-
posed capital won d throw into circulation
would augment that depreciation at least
two per cent. Is i then Ufno Concern "a
the NV lHt- MS whose fortune Consists in
money, that before they grow TO m .nhood
Its value will have evapOratsd f? Is Il of mn
concern to the numbers who own Ire
debts to be paid az long instalmenss. thet
they are to receive trash instead Of money
Is It OF no CONCERN to all The public func-
tlonaries who have with landatie patr;-
otsm served their country for specific sal
aries which have already pfeci4t d to 2
sum evea inadequate in many c4sss to their
support, that this probation is still to
be increased
1t - OF no concern TO the whole conu,u-
nlty who WISH to exchange their cofnmo-
ditIes, that the .tlndard Of this value is e..
rtIated, that they have no long r a seals
by wnich to estimate the price Of their ne.
cessisies
And, if all these things weigh no.h;nr
with politicians infatuat with the sound
ing numbers Of this mira sam, let us see
what this sum really is, when We iook -
us substance instead Of listening 10 its sov,d
Inc present bank capital Of Vireini,
$4,000 600, has produced an annual oepra,
cation OF per CEN, which ratio iron,
the law OF the suDJsct IN reases very dav.
he Increased bank Cap tai og 81 .sCQ qfg
proposed, viii produce 4 farther deyrec,s-
ton that cannot be est m ited at less n, ~,
two per Mt. annually. The present revs.
nus OF Virginia We will estimate az n,;i.
lioD,the onus viii raise il 10 81 90 OOO. ard
tnen the annual dcprec alton will be au,,.
uicnted TO five per cent; AMI It is LOT d..
hcnlt for one at all acquainte With calm
ldtlobs ~ series 20 s3cw that in any rroscr
OF years greater thar 9, an annual dcorg.
clat'on of hvc yer cent. OIL 81 .O40,OoO viii
leave less sum than a deprcci,tt. n If
Is on million 1.-THE PRESENT r. vcnre1
viii SO that in less than years che bo.,.,.
and It's attendant banks viii be an abe,i,...
loss TO the revenue Of the State. anI IN -
years loss OF more than S,9J0.OOO, AMI i
perpetual annual loss OF many thousand t,i.
| lars forever after q wi 4 f,.. ~, 500.