Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1819-10-15
ALEX ANuRiA
FRIDAY .HOR.AI.NG, OCTOBER 10.
For The .4ieranaria Gazette. =

Every thing thai affects the growth and Pros
perty of town is an object of mutual con-
Germ to its citizens and country customers =
to all and 10 any of whom, it becomes lar
subject OF anmadsersion - shall proceed
therefore to express my opinions on SUBJECT
winch has for some time past been the source
of serious reflection and .olicitude 10 me, and
which have no douh, has excited the same
feelings every where within the range OF your
commercial influence.
No man is stranger to the tact, that we
are in the midst of pecuniary distress and dit
6culty, unexampled IN the annals of our
country-producing desolation and dlsmay,
from one end of the continent 10 the ether.
No evidences of diminution have as yet been
perceived, and although we may fairly CAL
culate on the happiest results, at sose future
period, as the fruits of our present embar-
rassments, yet the most gloomy torebodings
do still exist, as to the Immediate prospect
before US.
1t is under these impressions we learn,
that with the ensuing year, and almost at the
same moment, the charters Of your different
Banking Institutions (s'x IN numher,) are
about to expre,--that applications will be
made to Congress ioT the renewal of several
and perhaps of all, by the Individuals who
conduct these several institutions, and That
Jour fellow citizens verygeneraliy concur in
the opinion which is entertained in the con-
tiguous country, thai the " hole of those ap-
FplcatIons will not. and ought not to succeed.
Under such circumstances, ami fully per.
suaded that something should be done to save
your town from impending dangers and diff
cuItes Of the most serious and alarming cha
racter, II has been a matter Of very great re-
gret aud establishment, that no steps, 81 far
as we have been informed. have either been
taken or contemplated, to devise and ma
ture, against the approaching session OF
Congress, banking system, calculated TO
take the place Of your expiring establish
ment. but ii would seem, ON the contrary,
that the good people Of Alexandra are wait
! Ing with folded arms. the development OF
the catastrophe, without a single struggl lie to
oppose the torrent.
The abortive efforts made by all your
banks, at the last session of Congress, 10 OBJ
tain renewals of their several charters, and
! the unIOward circumstances which have since
! occurred IN relation TO some O. them, must
satisfy every impartial man, that similar et-
{ fort would now be unayailiag, even ii the
object were desirable. But it IS certainly
not desired We have The strongest eviden-
ces before us, that your Banks have been in
judiciousy muitipiled-that the real capital
! OF the town has not been increased by them
| that the dangerous eXpedent, OF forced
/ circulation, to which the new banks found
! it necessary to resort was calculated TO pro-
dvce, and did in fact produce, the most Sc
rious ihjqry and distress to he public at large
! within the sphere Of your commercial iafu
ence. The efforts of these new establish
mcnts TO supp nt the existing circulation,
we're worthy OF better cause, and the mis-
chiefs produced to the public. were proper
toned to their succea~ "a general system
ofself defence became inevitable, producing
state of rivay which greatly lessened the
capacity of all your Banks to accommodate
the public, or to benefit the stockholders.
The eHp.nces incident 10 Banks have in
the same way been increased to very Sc
rious amount | shall not probably exagge-
rate. when estimate the annual expense
Of your sin Banks at the sum Of thirty thou
/ sand dollars. The same capital might have
| been administered by two Banks at an ex-
pense not exceeding one third OF that sum,
| 80 that the stockholders were needlessly de-
privet of twenty thousand dollars per year,
in this item, and toe advantage given, indi-
recty, 70 distant Banks ;--forit has actually
happened, that some among the most dis
| corning OF your oWn citizens have been lndu-
| ced to send abroad their funds, for invest
| ment in distant stocks, which circumstance
| never could have occurred, had the same IN
ducements been hald out TO item at home
| Large sums Of money have probably been dl-
verted from your town, By citizens OF the
neiehboring states, from similar consldera-
| tons,
| But an evil of still greater magnitude has
resulted from the inordinate multiplication OF
your banks. Your town has been literally
A u