Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1816-12-24


comfort TO the poor. He also coI,tended,
that banks were friends OF the peer AMI
needy capitalists; that great capitalists
| are generally opposed TO the establish
ment of banks, rs they are the monopo-
lists OF capital bnt that the moment
banks are established, the poor come in
to the market 10 purchase the former
receives more for his produce; the bene-
| fit extends over the whole community
and the poor enjoy advanla es to which
they would have been utterly strangers.
As TO The objection of The gentlemen
from Bath, that they would demoralze the
people, 1t puthinl IN mind OF the alecdotc
of an honest Jack Tar, who had saved the
life of IA rich man at the hazard of his own
he had gone TO sea, returned poor, and
went to the rich mans door To- beg aims
his rich friend, after recognizing him,
had sent him into the kitchen, and said.
/" lwould give you money, but You'll gel
drank" And this is the morality which
YOU would now preach to the Western
People. They have saved our commerce
from destruction; and now, when they
come forward and ask aims of us, we tell
them we cannot grant them banks, because
| they will but demoralize them.
The House had been told, OH the grave
| authority fSir W. Blackstone, that YOU
must not create a bank, because Il corpo--
| ration was intangible, invisible, and had
no soul.-Rut is Justice tangible? Is Lii
herty visible? Has humanity i soul p
| The gentleman surely hadnot introduced
| Blackstone TO tell us what corporation
IS, but to show hls wit by comparing the
! bank To the devil. But If we iu,lge OF the
hee by It's fruit, it might with more pro-
priety have been compared to an angel,
To whose watch and whose ward the hap
piness of man was entrusted-under
whose wing, commerce, and liberty, and
| plenty, were sheltered.
| One gentleman had asked, where the
| specie ct these new banks Is TO come
| from All that he could answer was,
THAT II tie specie was to appear, the banks
would go into operation otherwise, they
would not. Ii you introduce petition
! Tor town, or if YOU please, litter OF
towns, does the legislature ask where the
people are to come? from all that they
know Is. it there bepeople, there will be
town; Otherwise, the grant will be void
If these institutions have no specie, who
will IT inure! Does the town ofOsborn's
inIure the county of Chesterfield Does
the respectable town of Warwick do any
injury 10 the city of Richmond MIR. II.
| contended, that whichever of the new
banks could obtain the necessary specie
| capital, would go into operation the rest
would iail-that he would unite will, any
| gentleman On that floor, in infiicting the
heaviest penalties. by aboIishing their
charters or furnishing their directors.
when they ceased the payment ofspecie.
Mr.. Il. contended, on the general ques-
ton, that 1t was expedieut TO augment the
banking capital OF this state; that the ca
pltai OF every country ought always to be
! proporiionate TO IFS commerce; that i'm
| 1903, the legislature of Virginia found it
necessary to augment the banking CAPT
| tai oi the state; so, when tney establish
ed the Farmers Bank of Virginia-and.
IN like manner, when they extended the
capital OF the Virginia Bank that if it
| mad been heretofore increased, why not
al this moment? that the commerce of
the state was continually advancing; that
| we might as well expect the shoes of an
infant son were intended for state of
puberty, as that The bank capital of 1908
WAS calculated for the commerce of 1872:
that Ii We halted in our augmentation.
our commerce would leave us. and 90 TO
onr sister siates.-Nir. r. then took a
view OF our Exports and Imports that
during the last year, the exports of this
city, alone, were millions of dollars =
that surely he did not estimate the whole
! vi 100 nfgnlN at -
millions-but take it at ID, at the lowest
calculation that the duties on imports
at Norfolk, alone, for Il series of wears.
had always exceeded (the wears Of en-
barSo and war only excepted) one milli-
on-durlng the last year, they were 81.
200, O00-sav, that Norfolk, only, imports
halfas niuch as the whole state. and est
mate the duties at 20 per cent average on
the amount of imports, the whole imports
ofthe state would thus amount TO twelve
millions. Mr.. t. asked, if any gentleman
could then suppose, that an export trade
OF - millions, and an import trade of -
millions, could possibly go on with \
banking capital of only 81, 500, 600? He
showed, as the consequence of this def
Cheney, that large proportion of our pro-
duce was exported TO other markets to be
sold, where capital was more abundant:
and that the Western people. particularlv'
TRANSPORTED their staples TO Alexandria. or
travelled further North TO Baltimore -
! ana as another consequence of the same
deficiency, that our merchants imported
lew goods comparatively, from fhe Euro
pean market; that those of the inferior
had to purchase their goods at n. York
&c. at higher prices; and thus retailed
them To the farmers at the accumulated
price OF double freight, double insn-
rance, and double reasonable mercan-
tile profit
| ;. Mr.. L. said, that nature manifested her
| diseases bV certain svmnto,,s. .l,.. IL