Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1837-11-01

SltCh they nave pStii
( TO the plain, beaten, wide roao'
sh they had before %trodden.
10y, AMI when, without snch "hoa
hes 80 have suggested, arc '"s
4tsbapksto fesuue specie payrneh,s'
raey never can resume wl1nou1 con
aud concert springs rom conn
+ ana confidence from Knowi-
adgb B.t what knowledge can eight
.lgad b,nks, scattered owe our vast
frr.l orv. haye Of the actual condition
iii Other? It's ii VAIN that state
,e.,.s orit ba periodically published.
ii, 8.pends. at last mainly upon the sol.
seecv of the debtors to the bank ; u
when even their names are no'
-,eMn. can that be ascertalned1
Instead Of coming to the aid OF these
8eostfate Institutions, aud assisting lhe'l
oya9 m5li and parental exercise OF
your power, in "A mode sanctioned aho
anDrayei by experience, you pfoP'se
Ia abaadon them and the country 10
9leir fate. Yoa propose worse; 10
6lseceiit their paper, to d's'fust mem
even as special repositories, AMI to dc.
homage aqains; them all the pains and
penalties Of bankruptcy.
9ow anl whom viii they resume spe-
Gle ~oay,nents1 Never, as far as my
reformation extends, have exertions
bean greater than those which the
banks nave generally made to open a
7sln ,heir vuulfs. 1t is wonderful that
he comm NIFTY should have been able
Ia bear, with 50 much composure and
designation, the p%rodigious curtailments
which have been made. Confidence
ra.estt5lished, the foreign debt exiin-
.lishgd. aud a national institution ere
e.ad, mast OF them could quickly re-
s,foe saecio payments. Some OF them,
urged by a high sense oil problty, and
sparling under severe re%proaches, VIII
la doubt make the experiment OF resu.
lslg aud continuing payment 10 specie.
Iaiey may even 90 on a while; bui
without the co. operation of the State
banks generally, and without the CO,
operation of national bank, II IS to be
4~npfehended that they will be again
seized with a paralysis. 1t is my de-
l.bas4te conviction that the preserya-
tilt OF iae existence oflhe State banks
.l.am lives depends upon the institution
,fa aatioaal bauk. 1t is as necessary
Ia g1am as the Union is to the welfare
tAa States in our political system.
hout it, no human being a fore
when we shall emerge from the
A., 6iculties which surround us. 1t has
bsan my fortune several times to see
tba cJu!trv Involved in great danger:
but never before have | behold II en-
compassed with any more menacmg
and po@entoas.
Eatertainjng the views which have
stse1lad, it may be asked why | do not
4usa p the establishment OF a
1at,yaal bank. | have already adver-
ed to the cause. Constituted as Con
gres, now is, | know that such "A pro.
,5-l, N would be defeated and that
At .oeli be therefore useless 10 make
l.. ] 10 not desire to force upon the
g l;e, or upon the country, against
It's vljl, i'll could, my opinion, howev-
er sincerely and strongly entertained.
J.. a u.,.onll bank be established, It's
stability aud lis utility will depend up
"a the general conviction which is felt
OF It's necessity. And until such il con-
vlction is deeply impressed upon the
People, ani clearly manifcsted by them,
X would, IN my Judgment, be unwise
even to propose a bank.
OF the schemes Of the Senator from
Virginia, (1Ir. RrvEs,) ! think now as
iA1ught in 1894. | do not believe
.,.at any practicable ~connexion ofState
banks can supply a general currency,
be 4 safe depository of the public mo-
.seys, OF act efficiently as a fiscal agent
IS the General Government. was
not then opposed to the State banks in
their proper sphere. | thought that
they could not be relied upon 10 form
exclusively a banking system for the
country, although they were essential
parts Of a general system.
The amendment ofthe Senator, con.
s.dered as a measure to bring about
the resumption Of specie payments so
much desired, | think must fail. The
motive which it holds out of the recci.
vability in all payments to the Govern.
ment ofthe paper ofsuchlbauks as may
resume by "a given day, coupled with
The condition proposed, is wholly made
quate. 1t is an offer TO eight hundred
banks and the revenue, payment Of
which in their notes is held out as the
inducamant, amounts to some twenty
or twenty-five millions. TO cntItle
them 10 the mconsilerablc extension
OF their circulation, which would result
from the credit given by Government
10 the paper Of all of them, they are
required to submit TO a suppression Of
all notes below five dollars, and at no
very distant period to all below twenty,
The enlargement Of their circulation,
produced by making it receivable by