Columbus Democrat. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 18??-18??, 1839-08-03
Mr.. WALKERS LETTER.



table facts. The business of making all the money |
Tor nation, is of the hshes; attributes Of SOW
ereisn power, and is infinitely mote important IN rs
influence on the diversified interests oC society," than
al other governmental powers combined. Yet We |
seem not 10 have reflected tina, this gigantic pow
er entrusted exclusively to the incorporated stock
holders of banks, State and National and placed for
quarter OF a century, by irreyOcabe charters, be-
yond The conto. Of The people OF their represent
tatveS Nor is II only The transfer to these eorpo-
rationS of the power of making money, mot by la
Dor or industry, upon The face of bank pae) but
also the power Of determining when, snd how, and
TO whom, and IN what quantities, aud for what pur
poses, this money shall be loaned 10 any portion Of
the community, and when, from whom, and how v
shall be recalled. And TO whom is this power en-
trusted Is it 10 an impartial tribunal acting open
ly, and removable by the people for an abuse OF
granted powers. No, II is 10 an irresponsible d.
ectory, composed of stockholders OF the banks, act
ing IN secret concave, and directly interested in
abusing their power-ntereSted IN increasing their
profits and dividends by the expansion Of their en-
cuaton, interested in increasing the circulation by
immense loans TO themselves, monOpoizIng, as we
have seen by Ihe returns from the only two States
where the facts have been investigated, one half
the discounts Of the banks, and concentrating IN
themselves in these two States, bank liabilities to
the amount, as we have seen, of nearly forty mill
ions Of dollars. And how was most of this immense
loan invested II was invested in property, TO en-
hance The price of which, far beyond its real value,
and enable the bank directory 10 sell at immense
profits, new issues of paper money must be made,
often, as we have seen upon insufficient security,
and again repeated to enable the purchasers TO
make payment This power is sufficiently alarming
when scattered among thousand banks, but when
II is proposed TO consolidate II 40 one great central
bank, To place under its control all the Incorporated
State banks aud 10 submit to its regulation the val
ue of all property and Of all labor, the power be-
comes fearful and tremendous, and in its practical
effects upon all the transactions of society, ncom-
parably greater than that OF all the other powers
delegated TO the general government. And 10
whom are to be delegated all these fearful powers :
To the directory Of a corporation, created by an
lrrevocabe charter, to endure for generation, d.
rectory neither eec:ed or removable by the people
or by their representatives, bui chosen and remov-
able only by few Incorporated stockholders, exer-
cisng with closed doors and sealed lips, an author
ty over the rights and interests of the people, more
arbitrary and despotc,. than any now entrusted to
any European potenate. Talk not OF the power
and sovereignty OF the States of the people, wheu
such corporation shall have been created Il will
i,oa on5 dasa,;o ~, uisgractd by fragrant abu-
sao &, ~ arbitrary aud uncontrolled, than any in
any age or country that ever trampled upon hn-
man IlgNl anu uUtEy, l lie loans now made
all the various banks of The Union, exceed by the
last official returns, five hundred and twenty-five
millions Of dollars, upon which, Exclusive OF en-
change and other shaving operatols,) is extracted
at the average rate OF seven per cent, annual n-
terest Of thrty-sX millions seven hundred and fly
thousand dollars, being an annual interest nearly
equal to all the specie in all tie vaults Of all the
banks in the Union, that being at the last returns
$37 $40; thus exhibiting an annual interest OF
one hundred per cent upon all tile gold and silver
held by the banks And this vast and annually aug
mentng sum, is collected, not by labor o. industry
but by the non-producers from the producers. 1t is
a tribute exhaustlng the fountains of general pros
perity extored by the few from the luIl Of the la
boring millions. The unequal distribution Of wealth
IS one of the great evils OF human society, and so far
as the Just rights of property arc involved, must be
protected by every government. But still it is an
| evil exhibiting sqpaid poverty by the side OF pam
pered wealth. and never should be increased by GO
vermenal power. To prevent the increase OF this
evil we have repealed the British laws Of prnogen-
| ture and entailment, by which great wealth was
| perpetuated and consolidated in the hands Of few.
But the banking system Of incorporated and assocl-
atcd wealth will concentrate and consolidate capital
! in the hands OF a few, with much greater rapidly
| than ever was accomplished by any system OF any
arstocracy that ever cursed the earth, by drawing
off from the parched and whitening soil the various
| springs and rivuets that should spread around a.
bundant harvests but that taken from the suffer-
| ing multitude, and concentrated in few large
streams and reservoirs, where the pampered few,
may luxuriate in all the more than splendid luxury
| OF regal wealth and power. Fertile and productive
as is yet the soil OF the Union, il this system OF IN
corporated and concentrated wealth endures and
augmeats in the same Iatio for another generation
| ii will BY its Impoverlshment OF the money and
concentration Of all wealth and power in the hands
| of few, convert our beloved country into q more
than Lybian DESERT upon whose vast unwaiered ant
unfostered plains shall be scattered the parch
ed and perishing millions, the miserable wreck an'
remnant of what was once a flourlshing nation o
freeman, whilst here and there, bank Oasis, sba
appear as a green spot amid the surrounding sands
where the incorporated few, repose in all the grea
ter wealth and luxury, than ever disgraced the I'm
peraI court OF the most etieminate deSp0t. lh'
amount Of American bank stock is now estimated q
about four hundred millions Of dollars. II va est
mate the other property Of bank stockholders a. al
average Of four times the amount OF their stock
land il is much greater 10 this Sate,) the total a
mount of wealth Of all the bank stockholders OF III
banks of the Union, would be two thousand million
| of dollars. Now, calculating the entire wealth q
the Union upon an estimate in proportion TO III
popuIation. founded on the assessed values in tina
State in which the most complete assessment IS CIV
en- the entire wealth Of the whole country would b
greatly less than twenty thousand millions Of do
lars Upon this estimate then, few bank stockho
ders, less than one to one hundred oil our popuatlo
! now hold one-tenth Of the entire wealth Of th
r whole country, accumulated in one generation
What must be the result in another generaiion
the system IS reorganzed las desired by the Stat
banks with scarcely dissenting voice. under tn
I nowerful dominion of bank of the United States
4 with capital of fifty millions As The best manag
ed banks, including the National Banks, issue a
least three 10 one Of their specie capital, tins at
average Of seven per cent interest upon the pape
loans, would be equal to twenty-one per cen'um pc
annum. Now as the profits upon agrlcu
ture and labor are not more than an average OF 81
Q per centum per annum, how long then al tins NOR
/ than triple rate Of increase would it take the lnco
i. porated wealth to accumulate more than hall u
:, whole property Of the nation and as the fortune