Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1816-01-09

sting Banks, has indu red them To pay Tor
those charters bonus of twenty per cspt.
upon the sum which they subscribed 10
t3eir stock: to purC h1se that stock ems um-
5ered with tbs premium of the Common
wealth, at seven, ana OF each other, 1T Sc
vent,en per cent, there were, few years
ago but two foreign holders of V rgin
bank stock, and Notwithstanding the sub
segment extension of the banking capital f
this Comm nwealth, that number do not
now exceed ten.-Yet comparison Of the
price of tins sto k with the annual dividends
upcnit, and OF those again, with the pr &C
and dividends of the stock of other banks
in America, affrl abundant proof. that
capital, thus vested in lrgini, is more
productive, than that, which is similarly
employed in the Atlantic states, TO the
North Or Z ST.
Your Committee believe, that pr judicc
has gone abroad. which, they confidently
trust, experience will prove to b. unf und-
ed, even to the satisfaction Of tn sc bv
whom it is en,e. tanned. that the policy of
Virginia is essentially hostile to commerce,
and to the + ghts Of commercial men. Up
on tie removal of this prejuiiCe, must de-
pend the future contributors of this COM
monwealth towards the prosperity aud
glory, If not the happiness. and fety Of
or foreigners, there can exist no foreign
commerce. Without foreign commerce,
there can exist neither ships, seamen, nor
navy; and tremendous lesson has
taught Nirgini,, that without navy, she
can have no security for her repose.
mere IS no higher evidence OF the JUS
tice and policy of nation, than that which
exists in the general sentiment of man
kind: there can be, indeed, but one other
human test; that, usually & ,ttering and
always tallacicus. which is to be found in
the opinion which d nation entcrta!ns of
herself
Ii is not wise man who does not some
times profit by the malice OF his enc nies.-
Nations are but associations of men.
Your committee are aware, that some
of the positions laid down in the earlv part
ted.
Hhas been said. that the currency of any
country bears fixed proportion 10 IT'S COM
merce, and consequently that q Bank can
not circulate notes, to greater value,
than the gold and silver coin which it dis
places. But the in-titution Of B.nk, not
only promptly suppl es any pre-ex st ng
select Of specie, bar inoreas the COM
MERGE anu the circulating medium OF thc
nation, by the same operation. This don
bic purpose, 1t Effects by It's loans. Money
s power; ant the loan Of money, the trans
Ter OF power; power to comm nd. and set
in motion ali The snews oflabour, and to
qui ken al the effects of industry.
IL has been urged, against the institute
on Of Banks, that they cannot create sin
gle additional dollar 1t is liter ly true !;
but they can obviously create a new de-
mand for one, By giving rise to new Con
tracts which require the use of money, the
Common mediu'n Of exchange. Whatever
mult.piIes the uses of money, cannot fail TO
Create a new demand for it, and money
ne cessarily follows that demand. In this
Sense, m0uey may be truly said, in contra
dict:on OF Grccian phios pher, to beget
MONEY, and Banks to create it. In coun-
try advancing ii population and we it'll,
with the r2pidity of the United States of
America, furnishing so many, and such iii
verslfed uses for money, this Gre tive pow
er has had ample scope for activity. Hence
the multiple ation of Banks in the North
| ern and Eastern states never occasioned,
| until the commencement Of the late war,
any cons derabe dimnution of their pro
fits, or the smallest depreciation of tn ir
circulating paper. Nor would the war,
which drew lis recruits from the least pro-
| ductive classes of society, have had either
| OF these effects, had, it not been accom-
| panied by the prostration of the foreign
| trade, OH which, even the interior com
mcrce ofthe United States, was so aterj-
| ally depend ut. On the Contrary, The con
| scquent augmentation of the public taxes,
and the numerous Contracts, to which, the
war itself, gave rise for paying, substitu-
! ting, cloathing, armirg and transporting
| from place to place, the national force. for
the erection of notifications, tie extension
of the navy, and the purchase & d stribution
# military sores, supposiug othcr tircum-
| stanCes to have remained unchanged, would
have occ1sOned an immediate q mand flr
a new circulating medium, or have eqiir-
| ed an Increased activity from tn old.
| It is not pretended that the de nand for a. e
medium Of exchange, 10 any country. may
| be extended, indefinitely, or at the pleas
| ure Of It's banks, and to the full amount Of
their loans. Experience alone can decide
| 10 what extent those loans may be safely
| carried. That experience every bank ac-
/ quires in the course Of rs operations. II
the circulation OF its paper does not in
crease with its loans, some part Of that pa
| per viii BE- brought into the b2nk t. ex-
| change, for what is Of universal demand.
| the gIid or silver CON whi,h it repres .rts.
| Should there be already more god or sill
yer coin IN the country than its interior
comm rec requires, however exten led by
the loans 81 the bank, It will be exported,
in the course of Us foreign trade. to sup
| ply the currency OF some other conntry, or
the redundancy will b applied AZ home or
Il