Vandalia Whig and Illinois intelligencer. [volume] (Vandalia, Ill.) 1832-183?, 1834-01-22

OF circulation, or Its sudden depreciation
before any other sound and convenien
currency was substituted for it, woul
certainly produce extensive evils, and r.
senslby felt among all classes of society.
1t is well understood that the superio
credit heretofore enjoyed by the notes o
the Bank of the United States, was no
founded Cd any particular confidence il
its management or solidity. 1t was occa
stoned altogether by the agreement on be
half of the public in the act of incorpora
Etion, tofecelve them in all payments t.
the United States; and II was this pledg,
on the part of the government which CAV,
general currency TO the notes payabl "A
remote branches. The same engagement
in favor of any other monied institution
would give its notes equal credit, and
makethem equally convenient for the pur
poses of commerce. But this obligation
OH TIE part Of the United States will cease
on the Sd ot March, 1886, when the char
ter expires; and as soon as this happens.
all the outstanding notes of the bank will
lose the peculiar value they now possess
ard the notes payable at distant places
become as much deprecated as the notes
of local banks. And if, in the mean time,
no other currency is substituted in lis
place, by common consent, it is easy to
foresee the extent of the embarrassment
which would be caused by the sudden de
rangement of the circulating medium
Ii would be too late at that time, TO pro
vide substitute, which would ward off
the evil. The notes Of the Bank OF the
United States in circulation on the 2nd
of SeptembeI last, which was the date of
the latest return before me when the or
der for removal was given, amounted to
1884 3,287 OF, scattered in every part
of the United States. And if safe and
sound curreIcy we're Immediately provi-
ded, on the termination OF the charter, to
take the PLACES of these notes, it would
still require time, to bring it into general
use, and, in the interim, the people would
be subjected to all the Inconvenience and
losses which necessarily arise from an I'M
sound state of the currency. The evil
would be so great and the distress SO gen.
eral, that il might even compel Congress,
against its wishes, to rc-charter the bank
and perhaps more efftctual means could
hardly be devised, for insuring the re-
newal of the charter. 1t is evident that
state of things so much to be deprecated
can only be avoided by timely preparation,
and the continuance of the deposites can
only be justified by the determination to
renew the charter. The state banks can,
! have no doubt, furnish general circula-
ting medium, quite as uniform in value,
as that which has been afforded by the
Bank of the U. States. Probably more
so. For it is well known, that in some of
the cities, the branches of the bank have
been in the habit, whenever they thought
proper, OF refusing to honor the notes of
their own bank, payable at other branches,
when they were not offered in discharge
of debt due to the United States. But
currency hunded on the notes of State
banks could not be suddenly substituted
for that heretofore furnished by the Bank
of the United States, and take the place
of it at the same moment, in every part Of
the Union. tits essential that the change
should be gradual; and sufficient time
should be allowed to suffer it to make It's
way by the ordinary operations of cons
merce, without requiring hasty and VIC
lent effort.
In this view Of the subject. it would be
highly injudicious to suffer the deposites
to remain in the Bank of the U. States
until the close of its coporate existence.
And as they cannot be Withdrawn without
the action of the Secretary Of the Treasu
ry, it must unavoidably become his duty,
at some period of time, to exercise the
power Of removal. Laying aside, there
fore, for the present, all The considerations
which the misconduct of the bank has fur
nished, the question presented TO this de-
partment was, how long could the remo-
val be delayed consistently with the pub
lie interests? 1t is a question of time only.
The duty must be performed at some pc
Rod, and could not be altogether omitted,
without justly mourning heavy response
bllity to the community, for all the conse-
quences that might follow. And it is,
think, apparent that the measure was de.
layed as long as was compatible with the
Interests of the people OF the U. States.
The monthly statement Of the Bank oil
the Cd Of September last, before referred
to, shows that the notes of the Bank and
its branches then in circulation amounted
to the sum Of S62,953,559 SO. The i'm