The Rodney telegraph. (Rodney, Miss.) 1838-1840, 1839-08-22

aons; stalled % dlIicisl documents, will
tlude, thnt the present debt Of the Uni |
ted States could be discharged bya smaller
sum than the aggregate due from the coil
iectors Of the revenue. Il this system like
y to ensure tho safety Of the public trea-l
sureY Tho experience Of the world haes
proved, that governments are seldom served
as faithfully IL individuals. A direct per-
soiial interest IN the skill and honesty Of an
agent insurcs some circumspection in Sc
lecting, and some vigilance 10 watching him.
And it may be fairly presumed, that men
whose principal business in life is The nc |
cumuIaiton Of wealth, have long since dis |
covered and adopted the safest SYSTEM Cor
It. Such men, with scarcely nm
exception, entrust their money % the GUS
tody Of Banks, rather thanof agehts,or even
Of themselves. These. are the persons
whose example government should initiate.
Secondly The cost Of the system is So
great as 70 DO serious incunbrance on the
Treasury fit be conceded that individu-
ais would or could be selected, faithful to
such trust, some security must be devised
against the temptation to robbery. Every
keeper must be provided with q strong
house, secure vault, and an impregnable
chest. Evea Banks, with all their aecuri
ties, have been sometimes entered by bur-
glers. And with all the strength which
bolts and bars could furnish, guards Of SOL
diery might occasionally be required. IL
is difficult, indeed, to calculate all the cost
of SO unwieldly machine In France, the
only country where this SYSTEM has prevail
ed of late years, and where statistics are
made public, the cost of collecting the reve-a
nue. amounts to nearly twenty five per cent.
of the whole receipts. Our system, while
the Bank Of the United States existed, cost
not fifth Of that sum. Besides--money is
not expended in the different parts Of the
country, in any proportion to its receipts by
|colleelors. AsingIe land Office may col-
lect, in one year, more than is spent in five,
IN the whole region West Of the Allegheny.
Without the aid of Banks, to transfer these
sums to the points where wanted, by means
of credits, sea-vOyaga to an Atlantic port,
or the march Of a caravan of wagons through
the mountains, is the absurd alternative to
which this system reduces tho government
with all the cost Of guards and insurance,
and all the Inconvenience of delay.
Thirdly. How is the currency to be af-
fected by the treasury For the pur-
pose of an extended commerce, the precious
metals are clearly inadequate. Indeed a
currency composed of no other material
would DO too inconvenient and unsafe FOL
ordinary ncighborhood transactions. And
the experience Of those nations which are
most commercial, and which have, there
fore, improved most rapidly, had led them
| 70 tie conclusion that the wants Of . trading
community can be supplied in no othel
way than by banking. Bills of exchange
for rcmittances, and bank notes for ordinary
circulation, are now universally in use a.
mong enlightened natious. And in coun
try where no individuals are sufficiently
wealthy to undertake this business on !
| scale commensurate with its commerce, az
riculture and manufactures, as is assurcdly
the case in the United States, joint stocl
associations, conducted with the prudence
4 for which capitalists are proverbial, and re
strained by proper legislation, have been 70
garded by all our statesmen, as furnishing
the best banking facilities that are within
our reach. State Banks, indeed, have some
times been too reckless for their own ad
vantage, or the soundness Of their issues
But, with a National Bank to check them
conducted with tho wisdom which distin
ignmhed tho last, they furnish . circulating
medium superior to any which The worl,
has ever known. Even in the absence Q
such great regulatory andeyenif we cou!s