Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1838-07-03

We are daily more and more becoming con-
WINGED that the Union Bank lately chartered
- tbis State, instead Of ultilaateiY benehtting
the community, win on the other hand prove
= ;u;urv. The State Of Alabama has faithful-
Il tried the plan, and however much 4 was
-aiued ana iauded q TIE onset. it seems now
3 have is faults. As this e the age Of srper-
irneut. we trust that the General Banking Law
Of New York viii be legalzed BY our State,
that we may be able to decide between it and
thspresent system, and the plan Of the Union
Bank. We take from the Nashville Wing the
following article on the subject Of State Bank
ING, which i would be wen for all readers to
peruse, more especially those who are about
taking stock in the Union Bank.
The experiment of banking upon the credit
and resources Of the State, and under the con-
/ troll and management Of the State authorities,
has been more fully tried, we believe, by Ala
BAMA than by any other member OF the con-
federacy. A year or two ago her State Bank
was looked upon, by her neighbors. as exhibit
inc the best model Of successful banking, iden-
tilted as It Is with the interests Of the people,
and uniting, as it was thought, safety and per-
naanencv with the richest dividends of the
State It occupied, too, the still more impor-
tant Office of tar payer for the people, its prof.
It's afording, for time, the means of paying
ALL the expenses of the government without
the aid or necessity of taxation. The enter
prising and speculative borrowed the money of
the bank-paid Cor promised to pay) for IFS use
at the good round rate off per centum, and the
farmer and mechanic had all his little wants
supplied from the same common source. Ev-
cry thing went on swimmingly for several
years, and even after the Revision of last spring.
the Legislature had nothing to do but to meet
and direct the bank to extend her discounts to
one, two and three years, and the people were
understood to be relieUed. The circulation of
the Bank and Branches was, by this step, in
creased to $l0,O00,00O & the debt ofthe people
to about tloerty millions. The bullion of the
bank, in March last, amounted to about $780,
600, being one specie dollar to twenty dollars
ofcirculation.
Now that the subject presumption is talked
OF, and the ways and means to restore conf
dence discussed, the character of the banks Of
Alabama, In common with the banks of the
whole Union, viii assuredly be brought to the
touchstone of public opinion; and it is probable
that the feasibility of the system viii be more
thoroughly tested than it ever was before.
, The Alabama papers are not silent on this
, subject; nor do they hesitate to say that ssthe
excessive issues of Alabama were made under
the authority of the very indiScreet act of as
sembly, passed at the extra session, II months
ago, which required the State bank and branch.
: es to put in circulation $5,000,000 additional
notes without creating any additional bank
+ capital" The effect is pronounced, nothing
more or less than further debaSe8ert If tFl
currency and an additional incentive to specu-
lation. And that the Legislature willingly
sanctioned this debasement, in order to perfect
; the work of RELIEF, is evidenced by the fact
that the banks were authorised to continue the
] suspension until 1910! 1t is now believed BY
sound tnanciers residing in the State, that a
remedy ought to be forthwith applied, and thai
1t "behooves the Legislature and the banks tc
, exercise a high order of financial ability tc
put the banks In a condition to take their stand
with their neighbors whenever the work of re-
sumption is commenced. "Al agree (says the
2 Huntsville Advocate) that hbiS great interest o.
the State has been in1prltdently, If not coTTupt-
ty administered, and the general voice is for
/ reform"
These indications are not to be mistaken:
nor ought they to be lost sight Of BY our own
people, who have just embarked in the same
scheme of banking. 1t is now pretty evident
; that State banking, Ike all other systems of
f finance, is not only liable to abuse, but to
shocks and commissions; and unlike other sys-
tens, has no common head to inspire conf
dence in times of doubt and peril.
The most insidious and destructive foe to
State banking, and indeed, the only one not
common to the banking system generally, is
one that approaches his victim in the garb of
patriotism and plausibility: he is sometimes
/ known by the popular name of RELIEF, but
. when truly understood, is called DEMON. It
against the designs of this smooth faced enc
my, that we would respectfully guard the man
ayers of the BANK OF TENNESSEE: from him
they have really more to apprehend than from
all other dangers that beset the path of the fl
nancier and banker. The history of the old
Commonwealth Bank of Kentucky, and the
present crippled condition of the banks ofAla-
bama are examples in point.