Richmond Indiana palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1837-1839, 1837-11-18
From Bieknell's Rsporser.
BANKS AND BANKING.


As the public mind of this c ountrv was never
more thoroughly directed to the subject of banks &
banking, than at the present moment, and facts
calculated to e.ucidate the matter. but pos
sess interest. Banks were originally designed
for the public good, to facilitate the purpose Of
trade and commerce, without interfering with
the rights Of the people, or aff,rding the rich
and aristocratic, any advantages that might not
be obtained by the poor and plebeian that u
say, in proportion to their wants and securities.
When banks depart from these legitimate Objects
of their being, and become weapons of evil In tde
hands of the few for the oppression of the mary
then they to the community, AID
deserve popular Indignation. The question,
therefore, tor the people Of this country to CO..
slider is--havc the existing banks adhered 10
the letter of their charters, and the objects bf
their creation, have they deyiaicd? Ii he
descision be against those Institutions; but re
incline to the opinion that will be III favorof
most of them.) the next question Is, to a reAe-
dy. Will the people be bcnehtted-thc greatest
good of the greatest number be promoted, by an
universal notification; will the object in
/ view be better answered, BY imposing upon them
rigid restrictions. and preventing the recurrence
of the censurable con1uct complained OF? All
reasonable men will, think, decide in favor Of
the latter course believing Re.orm-soand SALT
tary, and promptly administered, far more con-
ducive to the general g,od, than destruction.
But. we must not forget the oil lect Of this article.
The facts detailed below. are from a work lst
published in LONDON, from the most authentic
sources-not single copy, we believe save the
one in possession, has yet reached this coun-
| try.
| And frsf--as to the origin Of banking.
''rhe first regular institution resembling VIII at
call bank, was established at Venice near
~ 700 years ago.
! Its origin had nothing TO do with the busi-
ness Of banking. 1t began in this way.
s.'The Reoni,l,c koinu ENGAGED in "A war. and
falling short of funds, had recourse to a forced
loan. The contributors to that loan, wee allow
cd an annual interest of four per cent. on the
sums they had been obliged to lend; certain
branches Of tho public revenue wore assigned
! for the payment of that interest; and corpora
ton entitled the Chamber of Loans, created
for the express purpose Of looking after this bust
ness managing those branches Of the revenue
assigned to the lenders, and attending TO, and Sc
curing the punctual payment of the interest, as
it fell due.
$50 far, there was no bank in our sense o
the word Bat the chamber, in the course of its
business. sometimes had occasion 10 purchase
and sell bills of exchange: and the means OF
the corporation was undoabted, and its character
: highly respectable, it discovered tina
its name upon bill gave it additional value
The chambers generally had some funds on hand
Gtwas found an advantageous investment to en-
plov these funds IN the business of tu:ing ant
tsellIng exchange; and IN process Of time, tn
. Chamber became a regular dealer IN that brnncl
of Isinls tlat is 1t, adopted the business G
discount, or lending money upon mercantile pa
n per, one great branch of the business of moder
: banking.
: '.By degrees, the Venetian merchants fell int
d the habit of placing their money with tho Chan
!, Der, for safe keeping; and thus was introduce
tho business Of deposit, n second branch of moo
i ern banking.
! sit was presently found that credit f.
II money deposited in the Chamber quite eqII,
l alent TO 50 much cash in hand; and the cus:or
was introduced of eifecting payments by tn
}, transfer of these credits from the account Of tn
a payer TO the receiver. In this way the troubl
II of counting large sums Of coin, and for ranspor
c ing it from one part of the city TO anoher wa
IT wholly avoided. So great were the supposed az
l. vantages Of this method Of doing business. thu
e what at first had been voluntary on the part
n the merch ants, was afterwards enforced by Law
l. Every merchant Obliged to open a accour
3 with the bank and all payments of bills of e,
IT change and in wholesale transactions were RI
I. quircd TO be made there, and in the mnncr As
, described. This method of ecctng payment
'r was plainly rude approach towards The nve,
v ton of bank notes; the crcua ton Of which col
7, stutc. the third and last branch of the bushes
4. of modern bank. That part Of oar circula tio
which consists of bank checks is only yer
slight modification of this Vcnctian practice.
'Thc Bank of Venice remained without riva
O but about the beginning of the fifteenth century
+ similar institutions established at Genoa an
Barcelona, cities, at that time the pride of Europ
$ and second only to Venice extent Of trace.
IF "Banks Of Amsterdam and Hamburg
J. alt is not paper currencies alone that are sui
o ject TO depreciation. Currencies of coin are hi
4 bic to be affected in the way. 1t was f.
is merry comm ,n cxpe iient with kings AMI state
to debase the coin, that they might the easier pa
e their debts in deprecated currency; and as vi
" lent fluctuations in prices and in trade have bee
, thus produced as were ever caused BY the depr
l. citation of paper currcnces. The English pour
% and the French livrc were or ginaliy pound tro
s of silver: but the former has deprecated till
= value is less than five dollars, while the livrc
- hardly worth twenty cents.
"Bii there is another cause for the deprecia.it
Of metallic currency, Independent of the di
honesty of governments. Coins worn al
$ wasted by circulation; they clipped by IL
- avaricous; and by these means their real, sn
: below their nominal value.
:, AT the beginning Of the seventeenth centur
= the Dutch stood at the head of the Earopean col
= mcrce. and Amsterdam, the capital of Holan
- was the central point of trade. The currency
> Amsterdam consisted not only Of its coin
but principally of the coins of all the neighbour