Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1830-05-01

I'm ths question:, whe,hdhe Oanl was bounu 10
redeem, Understandable a bills OF all its branches
\ he said: 80
lie should not argue Il the bank was not bound
pay us hotes, lndiscrimtely at all its offices. He
believed that nobody nowtutendcd that il was"-
~ was no unfair. abunt OF the practical op-
Grafton of the system of Aich he was spea kin,r IN
say 'hut IL gave 10 the brtheS where the EXCHANGE
WAS unfaVur1be, the cntl disposition of tho specie
OF thcSe branches where + exchange was favora.
/ uic. upwards ot SIX mgonS OF specie have been
sent 10 the branch OF Ne York: besides the amount
Hhich mas been paid by y subscribers of the bank
tnere; but, III issuing uot which the bank OF New
hork has been obligcto redeem, every branch
throughout the country Is drawn upon fund, with
whose condition the the il could be acuuain;
Gu y y 3 Such system might be expected
TO produce irconvcncnt hapgcS i'll the distribution
OF oank capital, cxrhc facility ofobtaining loans
ut one time, aud uneSpttcd cuntracons of discount
at another" %"WeEcvcr the state ofeXchunge
IS uniaVsrable, whenevdt the Just principles of bank
ing require rcductiof discounts, then under this
system of indscriminak payment of its notes, the
bank has nothing TO far from draught OF specie,
anu Is encouraged 10 letl "a every applicant. Wher
ever the exchange is orablc, and the sound prin
cipes OF banking, blurged accommodation might
DC given TO the comm hity-;he-c the flow of nolcs
from every State wltse exchange unfavorable,
contracts of suspends the operations OF the bank.
Thus, wherever discounts should be enlarged, the
tendency of this systtn Is 10 reduce them, and 10
enlarge them whereve they should be reduced "
independently of thsgroSs injustice OF req,i II. the
conieicracy without ny compensation, these cnlIghl.
ticu views show m Extraordinarily Ms eXpCdiency and
INJUSTICE as 1t regard the different sections of the
Snon. 1t would Inc3,ably render those parts of the
Union where the banlSssucs prudent and mod
crate tributary to thot where the issues inju-
Gicious and excessive. la this way, the very me
quality IN the currencyw.ich tho bank designed
70 correct would be pepetuated by the VAN attempt
20 make II perform ilposs J:Iltics. The power Of
annihlIating space tnnsp orng money or any 9TH
er article to the most dsiant points without the loss
Oh time or the application oclabor, belongs HUI
man institution.
But the salutdry agency OF the BANK OF tho Uni
ted States, in furnishings sound and uniform currcn
cy Is not confined that portion of the currency
winch consists of it's owi bills One of the most inI-
por'ant purposes which he bank was designed to &C.
comp ish and VIII CHI i is confidently believed no other
human agency could hav, effected, under our fedora
i've ~ stem Of Government, was the enforcement of
specie payments the p'rt Of numerous local banks
deriving their charters ipm the several States, and
Wnese paper, irreteemahe IN specie. and nlta bic
IN ITS quantity constituted the almost entire currency
OF The country. AndstR combination of the rreat-
est difficulties the bank has almost completely sue
coGdeC III the Performance of this arduous, delicate
ana Pa'ntul duty Nth exceptions, too inconsidera-
Die to merit notice. all the State Banks IN the Union
nave resumed specie paynents.-'rher bills, in the
respective spheres of Their circulation, arc OF euua
value with gold and silver WHILE for all the opera
lions oil commerce, beyond that sphere, the bills or
the checks of the Bank of the United States are even
more valuable than specie And even in the yery
Few instances IN which the paper of the State banks
Is deprecated, those banks re winding IN their CON
Germs ana 1t may be safely said, that no cjZen of me
Union is under the necessity of tskng depreciated
PgPeT' because sound currency cannot be obtained
norm carolina believed TO be the only State where
paper OF the local banks is irredeemable in specie
deprecated Even there, the de-
more important the uper of the Bank of the United
States can be obtained by all those who desire IT, and
have an equivalent TO give for 1t.
Inc committee that the oDiniOn ia
tertained by some, that the local banks would, at
some time other, either voluntarily or by the CO.
efcion OF the State Legislatures, have resumed sPc
Gle payments. lin the very nature of things this
would seem 10 be Inpossbility. It must be re-
membered that no banks made such large diyi-
bends as were realized by the local Institutions during
the suspension ofspccic payments. a rich ana album
dant harvest OF profit opened to them, which the
resumption of specie payments inevitably bias,
While permitted to give their own notes, bearing no
interest, and not redecmabo in specie, in exchange
Tor better notes bearing interest, it is Obvious that
the more paper they issued, the higher would be
their profits. The most powerful motive ri1t con
operate upon moneyed corporations, would have OK.
sted, to prevent the State banks from putting an end
TO the very state of things, from which their exces
sive profits proceeded. Their very nature must have
been changed therefore before they could have been
induced TO cooperate, voluntarily, in the restoration
OF the currency. ltls quite as Improbable that the
state Legislature would have compelled the banks 70
do THEN duty II has already been stated that the
tendency OF deprecated currency to attract irpor
toons to the points Of greatest deprcc ation and to
tighten the relative burthens Of federal taxation
would naturally produce, among the States, rival
~ in tho business OF excessive bank issues. But
there remains to be stated, cause, Of more general
operation, which would have prevented the ntorpo.
eition OF the State Legislatures to correct those
issues.
The banks were, directly and indirectly. the crsJi
tors ofthe whole community and the resumption of
specie payments necessarily involved general cur
ament ofdiscounts, and withdrawal of credit which
would produce general and distressing pressure upon
the entire class Of debtors. These constituted the
largest portion Of the population Of all tho States
where specie payments were suspended, and bank is
sues excessive. Those, therefore, who controlled
public opinion in the States where the depreciation of
thc local paper was greatest, interested in the
perpetuaon of the evil. Deep and dclecrious there
fore, the disease evidently was in many of tho
states, their legislatures could not have been ex-
pec'cd to apply remedy, go painful as tho
compulson Of specie payments would have been
without the aid Of the Bank Of the United
States. And here il IS worthy ofspccal remark that
while that bank has compelled the local banks to re-
spece IL has most -: