Maumee express. [volume] (Maumee City, Ohio) 1837-1838, 1837-09-16

and those who direct them both, being
principally guided by the same views,
and influenced by the same motives, win
be equally ready to stimulate extrava
gance Of enterprise by improvidencc Of
credit. How slrikingly is the conclusiosi
sustained by experience. The Bark of
the United States, with the vast covers
conferred upon it by Congress, did not
nor could not prevent forrle;r and similar
embarrassment; aorh has the still greater
strength 1t has been Sid TO possess under
its present charter, enabled ii, in the
existing emergency, to check other in
stltuttons, or even TO save ITSELF. In
Great Britain, where it has been seen,
the sefne causes have been attended with
tho same effects, national bank, pos
sessing powers far greater than are ask
ed for by the warmest advocates Of such
an institution here, has also proved un-
able to prevent an undue expansion of
credit and the evils that flow from it.
Nor can / find any tenable ground for
the re-establishment OF a National Bank,
in the arrangement alleged at present to
exist in domestic exchanges of the coun-
try, orin the facilities it may be capable
Of affording Them. Although advantages
OF this sort we're anticipated when the
first Bank Of the United States was Gre
ated, they were regarded as an inciden-
tai accommodation not one which the
Federal Government was bound, or
could be called upon to furnish. This
accommodation is now, indeed after the
lapse OF so many years, demanded from
it as among its first duties; and an omis-
sion to aid and to regulate commercial
exchange is treated as ground Of loud
and serious complaint. Such results
only serve to exemplfy the constant de-
sire among some of our citizens, TO
enlarge the powers Of Government, and,
extend its control to subjects with which
it should not interfere. They can nev-
err Justify the creation of an institution to
promote such objects. On the contrary
they Justly excite among the community
more dilligent enquiry into the charac-
ter of these operations of trade, towards
which il is desired to extend such pecul-
lar favors.
The various transactions which bear
the name of domestic exchanges differ,
essentially; in their nature, operation
and utility. One class of them consists
of bills Of exchange, drawn for the pur-
pose of transferring actual capital from
one part of the country to another, or to
anticipate the proceeds Of property ac-
tually transmitted. Bills Of this descrip-
ton are highly useful in the movements
of trade, and we'll deserve all encour-
agement which can rightfully be given
to them. Another class is made up of
bills of exchange, not drawn to transfer
actual capital, nor on the credit Of prop
erty actually transmitted, but to create
fictitious capital, partaking at once the
character Of notes discounted in bank,
and of bank notes in circulation, and
swelling the mass Of paper credits to a
vast extent in the most Objectionable
manner.-These bills, have formed for
the last few years, large proportion
of what are termed the domestic exchan-
ges of the country,seryng as the means
of usurious profit, and constituting the
most unsafe and precarious paper in
circulation. This species of traffic, in
stead Of being upheld, ought to be dis
ceuntenanced by the Government and
the people.
In transferring its funds from place to
place, the Government is on the same
footing with the private citizen, and
may rseort to the same legal means.
1t may do SO thro' the medium Of bills
drawn by itself, or purchased from 9th.
ers and in these operations, it may in
in manner undoubtedly constitutional
and legitimate, facilitate and assist ex-
changes Of individuals founded on real
transactions of trade. The extent to
which this may be done, and the best
means Of affecting it, are entitled to the
fullest consideration. This has been
bestowed by the Secretary Of the Trea-
snry, and his views will be submitted
to you in his report.
I But il was not designed by the consti-
tuition that the Government should as
sumo the management Of domestic or
foreign exchange. 1t is indeed authoris-
ed 10 regulate by law the commerce be-
tween the States and to provide a gen.
ieral standard of value, or medium ofex-
change, in gold and silver; but it is not
its province to aid individuals in the
transfer Of their funds, otherwise than
through the facilities Of the Post Office
Department As justly might it be call