Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1834-03-11


coin of their country, by diminishing its weight,
or It's purity, or BOTH In the time of William the
Conqucror, the pound sterling pound Of sill
ver 1t Was gradually reduced to about one third
inns practice, SO general in former times, but al
ways injurious to the nation that resorted to it, is at
this day, and has long been considered M system
OF swindng, and fragrant fraud, not to be tolcra-
ted And yet, that debased coin was always worth
something; it was seldom reduced one half. But
our paper is not worth one arhng, iutrnsically.
But this subject is ably treated by John Prince
| Smith, in his Elements of the Science of Money,
IA work deserving to be better known than it ISL
shall merely refer the Committee to il. In that part
| OF his work 10 which | nude, Mr.. Smith shows,
that all the mschievous effects of ebasing the coin
| by State, IRE produced by paper money
have, believe, MIR. Chairman, now examined,
IN slight way, and very imperfectly / know, al
most every argument that have heard i'm favor of
Banks, aud would now conclude but to the truth
OF the great argument i'm favor of the IT, s. Bank
OH the ground Of expediency, viz: that it is neces-
sary TO keep the State Banks in proper limits; and
thar, as long as we have grand National Bank, the
State Banks will conduct themselves with prudence
| aud prowiety-i have some doubts Before state
these doubts, must remark, that the truth or false
hood OF this argument in favor of the u. s. Bank,
does IN no manner affect single observation that
l have made ia relation Banks i'm general
Justice, also, requires me to acknowledge that the
Judgment, skill, and success, of those who have
had the management of the United States Bank, for
the last twelve or fourteen years. have been such
of which feel and which prevents me from be-
ing at all surprised at the effect il has produced
on the minds Of others 1t is this which induces
gentlemen believing the Bank charter to be uncon-
siitutionnl TO prefer this Bank to another But beu
gentlemen TO consider, if there are not many objec
t'onable features in the charter of this Bank which
might be removed The greatest 10 me, is its cnor-
nous capital think with a capital Of seven mil
lions, Just oneh of the present capital, il could an
| swcr all the wants of the public. AS the Bank would
be al liberty TO issue three times the amount of its
capital 1t will be perceived, that it would have at
command twenty-one millions. Now this is more
| ti'an The average amount of notes il has issued
and yet with less than twenty millions, besides its
tlsual business, dscounting and keeping the State
Tanks in order-it has dealt in or had some agency
IN exchanges, foreign and domestic to the astsnis-
ing amount OF between tico and three hundred mil
hons Of dollars This will he doing business on n
scale sufficiently extended, presune.-Hut, to nv
objections; The first which strikes my mind is this
las human nature is the same, and as suppose
tile stockholders OF the State Banks select for the
officers and directors of those Institutions honest
men, and men of skill and Judgment do not see
why such men can not conduct their Banks with
| prudence, proprety and success, without any other
cohroi Than their own Interest," and a sense of no.
nor, justice ami prudence-or, if these consdera-
tons are Insufficient cannot SEQ how the officers
and directors of the United States Bank succeed
The next objection i have to this po,certi,l arru
nent 49, that am not satisfied of the fact that has
kept tile State Banks i'm ORDER and that all WINS lis
order and confusion when we had no IT, & Rank
| he mischief during the interregnum of the Bank
was, not that we had no Bank, but that we Ind
TOO many. II was an excessive issue of Treasury
notes, and of Bank notes which the Government
: had borrowed during the war; which PRODUCED the
deranged State OF the currency. 1t was the want
OF uniformity not the depreciation, which was
| complained of nj that day-so far from il, the
| veteran and venerable Matthew Carey denominut-
ed the summer of the year 1915, ",The Golden
age of Philadelphia" But, without OBTAINING the
committee with an effort TO prove that the dis
ordered state of the country was not produced by
the ih'erregnum OF the Bank, or an attempt to de-
honstrate that II the charter of the old Bank had
been renewed in 1911, that Bank would have expe-
rienced The fate of all the other Banks that were i'm
existence during the war, 1 shall content myself
with presenting to the Committee from this Book to
which have so often referred, er necessitate as
have no other at hand, but to which, repeat I
cannot too ollen refer or too strongly recommend.
say, Mr. Chairman, out of many striking cases
which could select from this book, shall content
| myself with presenting to the Committee a single
case under the reign of each Bank, to sbew that
| the U. 3. Bank has been unable to restrain the
State Banks not merely from of imprudence, but
from absolute ffauds-one during the existence of
the Old, and another, disce Omnes, since the
present Bank received its charter The first is the
History Of The FARMERS EXCHANGE BANK OF
GLoUcEsTER," contained in report made by
Committee of the Legislature of Rhode Island,
March Goth, 1909.
at appears says the Report, chat the capita, stock was
nor paul III according to the provisions the charter
Some OF the stockholders paid the whole amount of the
shares by them subscribed others paid part and gave
he,r notes for the residue. The directors did not nan
any money tchaferer; Tor, although in common with the
other stockholders, the directors lodged the amount of
their first inStdlen in specie, yet in a peyv fen, do,s
dneTudrds all the directors receUed out of The BonI
The amount Of said insfGcnfs in bills of said Rank
Jor 0iich NO SECURITY chdfeuer cas giuen and t,ev
gave notes. without endorsers for the first ipstalne
payable with INTEREST," for the f,co instanents no nan
ment tcds made or security giren" The Charter re-
CURED that the capital should be paid in seven
| intoo
1904, twelve years after the old IT, S. Bank "On the
third day OF June, 1905, the Board of Directors passed
vote permitting each director 10 take out Of the Bouk
2OO dollars Tor the purpose Of exchanging the same
The said directors HAVE NEVER PAID or AccoUNT
ed FOR SAID MONEY 10 me Bank. ''Tt e
directors nerer declared any certain dividend of the
| profits OF the Bank, but once a year p,jJ 10 the
stockholders interest, generally the rate of eight
| per. cent per annum, the sums they had re
spectieeiy paid in, and the RESIDUE ap,ouufiup in
some years to one hundred and thirty dollars each The
directors divided among themselves. On
the 2Sih day OF March, 1905 there was in sail Bank in
specie and bills Of other Banks thee hundred and sjy
~ dollars and fifty cents" Mr. Chairman, Said
Mr. Page, we must keep account of the CENTS
here. This Bank had in its vaults the exfyaor,Iina
w sum oil $3.50 SO cents! " and :he Bank had 800 80
Of as 0tCn bills in circulation" Under t,is svs
ten the Bank continued in operation about four years
and then eleven OF the directors transferred their into
rest to the agent Of Andrew Dexcr,jr of Boston, Each
oil The directors received thirteen hundred dollars for
n nI,, us shares Ii appears that
az the money paid to the said directors ,cas maid o,
RATION. except that there charged TO said Dexter
$3.50 20 cents paid that account Dexter thus got
control OF the institution, and having board of Iii
reciors 10 favor bis views, he got from the Bank