Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1834-12-18
3" Opinionum commentd delet4ies, nature jude
confrmdt."


RETURN OF THE BANK FEVER.
Because mankind is perpetually moynx
in circle, it is taken for granted by som
shrewd observers, that we are making great prd.
gress straight forward towards perfection.
Hence the current twaddle-"march ofintellect, |
!" march of mind, {" schoolmaster abroad" Sd
Some eighteen or twenty years age the grerl
discovery was made in Kentucky and Ohio III I
those states were suffering inconccivably from
tcdnt Of cnpitnl-like the man who sustained
great annual loss Of calves for lack of cows-t1
bring 'em forth. Happily in this dilemma tb5
still greater discovery was made that capital
could be created-tya fiat Of the Legislature
that money-plenty of money TO answer all conf
ceivable purposes, could be called into existenc3
out of nothing, by &c BE il enacted,'' Sc.
Well, at it they went-and chartered banksz
too numerous to part iculraize. There was u,
concern in almost every town aud village ~
ney-that is to say, rag money teas plenty--but
the Spanish castings, as the rags more and mor@
abounded, grew more and more shy and scarce
as your common rat disappears and gives plscd
TO the Norways. Facilis descensus Avemi-it
is easy to get into scrape-sed rerocare gradant
but to get out again-hic labor, hoe opus-that's
the difficulty, that's the tug. Every new baD
that is established must have a fine new banking
house, with fire. proof vaults or cellars to secma
from accident the rags that it has, and the speed
that it has-not. The building costs money
Then there must be Presidents, Cashiers, and
Clerls-fnc gentlemen with high salariss-
More money. To keep the stock holders il
good humour il is desirable that the bank should
make good fat dividends. Still more cash
Where is all this to come from3 Out of them
terest on loans Kentucky chartered some for1
ty banks-Ohio, God knows how many. Eni1
bank had houses TO build, officers 10 pay, and Of
vide nds to make. OF course each bank was DEL
sirous offending as much money-as could bY
any probability be got back again with interest
There was competition in lending land such
was the competition, that thousands were len
where hundreds would not have been safe. Al
almost every man fancies that he wants money
II
proftably, the difficulty of finding borrowers, VI
are happy to say, was not great-though SOM
few old fashioned dodgers had to be coaxed.--
But the believers in the " perpetual motion ~
accommodation" for considerable sums, that
sound bank or sane bankers would have tas'd
with one cent. The perpetual motion wenthD
thunder at frst-Redbeffer' was fool to it,
Money was plenty, produce was high, and Id
| and lots rose to prices that made every hdJ
stare. The number and amount of debts fps-
tr=1ied was equally stupenduous, arising outs
gambling speculations in real property, and ib
fatal faculty of getting what was called mcn'T
At last the perpetual notion stopped stOei
still-'twouldn't go M no more. Pay-day CAM
and the wherewithal to pay came not with
Suits were brought, & judgements obtained, nf
executions issued-but the Legislature interps
ed. Replevin laws, and st op laws, aud valuiha
laws were passed. The constitution was Won
ted-the judges interposed TO save il, and ''e'
were, in still further violation ofthe copstiiui@
legislated out of Office. These were the dayso
the "relief party" and the "fungus soal
when the Blairs, the Kendalls, and the ha'ip
rose into evil emnence and Infamous notonep
The State thinkers, who. in the sublimip
ignorance and self conceit," had meddled VI"
the currency ofthe country" about which ''''
knew great deal less than nothing ut all '-a'i
destroyed it, could contrive no other mode Off
pairing the ruin they had wrought bnt by throw
ing the constitution Of their country iSt9 W
yawning chasm by solving the very eemen'
society the faith that holds the clemens
tie moral world together" and as far as ~ NV
Law they ain a Same of the ellie of this corp