Western courier. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1837-1838, 1837-09-14

a ItHCHsclFcS VEs the t,OnilnunltyS tupit cu
gagements oihe Government, and the
system promised 10 be permanently useA
fol. But when It became necessary, un.
der the act Of June, 1886. to Withdraw
from them the public money, for the
pmpose of placing it in additional insiitu.
tons. or Of transferring il 20 the Staies,
hey found il, in many cases, inconvenient
to comply with the demands Of the T'reasa
ury, and numerous and pressing applica.
tions were made for indulgence or re-
lief. AS The instalmetts under the depos-
ite law became payable, tbei 1HD embar-
rassments. and the necessity npd ekwbIch
they lay Of cuitailing their discounts and
calling in their debts, increased the gener-
al distress. and contributed. with other
causes, to hasten the revision in which, a.
length. they, in common with the other
banks, were fatally involved.
Under these circumstances, It becomes
our solemn duty to inquire whether there
are not, in any connection between the
Government and banks of issue, evils of
1grest magnitude, Inherent iu It's very la"'
ture, and against which no precautions
can effectuaIly guard.
Unforeseen in the organization Of the.
Government, and forced on the Treasury
by early necessities, the practice of ems
ploying banks, was, in truth, from the
beginning. more a measure of emergency
than of sound policy. When we started
into existence as Dation. 10 addition to
the burdens uf the new Government, We
assumed all the large but honorable load
of debt which was the price Of our liber-
ty !, but we hestated to weigh down the
infant industry Of the country by resort
ing to adequate.taxation for the necessary
revenue. The facilities Of banks. in rev
turn for the privileges they acquired,
were promptly offered, and perhaps too
readily received, by an embarrassed
Treasury. During the long continuance
of national debt, and the intervening
difficulties of foreign war, the connec-
tion was continued from motives of con-
venience; but these causes have long
since passed away. We have no emer-
gencies that make banks necessary TO aid
the wants of the Treasury; we have no
!. load of national debt to provide for, and
we have on actual deposite large sur
plus. No public interest, the.efc:e, now
requires the renewal of a connection that
circumstances have dissolved. The COM
plete organization of our Government,
> the abundance of our resources, the gen"
!, eral harmony which prevails between the
different GATES, and wnh foreign Powers,
ali enable us now to select the system
4 most consistent with the Constitution, and
4 most conductive to the public welfare
Should we, then, connect the Treasury
for fourth time with the local banks, it
can only be under a conviction that past
failures have arisen from accidental, not
Inherent defects.
, A danger, difficult, if not impossible. 10
be avoided in such an arrangement, is
made .s,rikingly evident in the very erens
by which it has now been defeated. "A
} sudden act of the banks intrusted with
the funds of the people. deprives the
Treasury, WITHOUT fault or agency Of the
Government, of the ability to pay its
creditors in the currency they have by
law right to demand. This circum%
stance no fuctuali N of commerce could
have produced, if the public revenue had
been collected in the legal currency, and
kept nsithat form by the officers of the
Treasury. The citizen whose money
was in ank receives it back, since the
suspension, at sacrifice in its amount
whilst he who kept it in the legal eurren>
cy Of the country and in his own possess
sion, pursues, without loss, the current of
his business. The Government, placed
in the situation of the former, is involved
in embarrassments, t,could not have suf-
fered hid it pursued the course of: the
latter. The embarrassnents are, more>
over, augmented by those salutary and
just laws which forbid it to use depFe-
ciated currency, and, by so doing, take
from the Government the ability which
individuals have of accommodating their
transactions to such catastrophe.
A system which can, in time OF proa
found peace, when there is large reres' :
nue. laid by, thus suddenly pheveni the. .aR>;.
lplicaton and the use Of the money of-ahe''
people, in the manner and for the object
they have directsdi eannotbe wise; but
who can think. without painful reflection.
that, under it the same unforeseen events
might have befaIlen US in the midst of
war, and taken from US, at the moment
when the most wanted. those very means y
which were treasured up to promote the
national welfare and guard our national
rights? To such embarrassment and to
suck'dangers will this Government be al.
tf'ways exposed, willis, it takes the moneys
raised for, and necessary to, the public
service, out Of the hands of IFS own.ci6cers
and converts them into mere tight Of.
action against corporations easfusten. with
the possession of them.LNor can such
results be effeclually guarded against in
su.h system, without investing the Ex
erutive with a control SOver hanks them