Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1839-10-17
SUSPENSION or SPECIE PAYMENTS.
From the National NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. II.
SUSPENSION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS BY
I'LL. pILIL AlEI pnIA nANkG

= 1HE lila DANhcs
II will be seen from the s~ubJoined article hiatt ID
+ Philadelphia Banks, with a single exception, witt
b a view il is presumed, 70 avoid the ruinous pressur
/ on tie mercantile community which a perseyefinl
effort TO sustain themselves would render nHagoid
f able. have come 10 the determination, for the pre-
d sent, TO suspend specie payments. In this th'
| Banks have only followed the example Of the 90
vernment, but from motives and causes more com
merd4bfs abd justji3bie. 1t las been Tor soFns
tine perceived 10 be inevitable that the Banks mus
suspend and ease the business c!asses, Or that there
must be AZ almost universal stoPpage on the psfl
Of the latter. This issue was stated 10 an ar
ticle in this paper. copied from a respectable jour
nal, YESTERDAYS. In thai al tice IL was minated tha'
in this struggle, the Banks would suffer the mer-
chants TO " 90 TO the wall" We are glad, if that
was the true issue, that The Banks have generously
taken tie responsibility on themselves Of stopPing'
and spafing the merchants. The general Inconve-
nience will have been light, whatever il be, If men
shall at last draw wisdom from bitter experience,
and, by tracing the distresses Of the country to their
true origin-the war upon the currency and its de-
rangement and prostration by the Government
apply the corrective.
From the National Gazette Of the 9th inst.
A combination of adverse circumstances hes re-
lrctnaIy compelled The banks ot this city 10 resort
TO a temporary suspension Of specie y Tho
fixture Of The harvest in Epgiand last year caused a
demand upon tie Bank oi Enelandfof more than Elk
millions of pounds sterling, about thirty millions Of
dollars, which was drawn in gold and silver iiom
rs vaults, and exported 10 the continent to pay Tor
gain.
This withdrawal of so large 81 amount Of specie
produced at once d depression 10 the value Of cotton
and other American produce, and Of course lessen
ed our means, in England, Of paying for the large
amount Of :lnportations oil foreign merchandise
There has therefore been a continued drain upon
our banks for specie TO ship to Europe to supply
this deficiency. Nothing can be more honorable 10
the character Of our merchants than the sacfilce
they have made to support their credit both at
home and abroad.
In support Of this declaration, it is only necessa-
ny to state hat, since tie late resumption Of speeie
payments, the Bank OF the United States has paid
out in specie upwards OF twenty millions Of dollars.
Ia addition TO this, the Bank has made great sacf-
fees 10 suprortlhe cause Of Internal Improvements,
nol only IN Pennsy lSauia but elsewhere.
OF the ability Of our banks to meet all their en-
gagements, no one can doubt. The safety OF a
bunk aoes not consist in the amount of specie idle
10 It's vaults, but in the amplesecurity w'4 h IT holds
of its debtors. All that the banks require, is, time
to collect the debts due TO them, TO enable them to
resume specie ayments.
We are requested to state that the Commercial
Bank Of this city has not united in suspending sPe-
Gle %payments.
The Baltimore Chronicle says that passengers
in the cars from Philadelphia state that the propri-
ely of the suspension was generally acquiesced in
by the people OF Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Gazette announces, at the same
time. the suspension of the Farmers Bank OF ltea-
ding--a bank situated in Berks county. 1t insists
that the suspension was the only available measure
of salvation for Philadelphia.
"To postpone CT says) would have been to drain
her ofher silver in a few months, for the benefit OF
New York. Two millions Of specie mustinevitably
have gone by the first OF November, as one million
did go from one only flour institutions within a
month past. OF course, the fractional parts OF dol
lars under five, and the change under one dollar,
will continue to be paid in silver. This is fairly
presumable, there being no notes under the first de-
nomination allowed by statute"
The Banks of Baltimore have followed the lead
Of those of Philadelphia, and suspended specie pay
ments also. This was to have been expected -
They issued the following notice on Thursday NOR
ming the 10th instant:
"Whereas information has reached this city that
tho Banks of Philadelphia have suspended specie
payments. therefore, Resolved, That under the cir
cumstances this meeting deems it advisable that the
Banks of this city forthwith suspend specie pay
ments for the present, and the same TO
the board of the several banks
Remarking on this resolution ef the Banks, the
Baltimore American Of the lIth says: at was
adopted before the regular hour for opening the
Banks, and It's ~propriety is shown 10y the fact that
when the doors were opened, drafts and demands
for specie were presented by several brokers from
the Eastern cities, who had arrived the night before
by the late railroad train. The city yesterday was
exceedingly quiet; here. and there, some two or
three OF more were to be seen talking over the
news oil the morning, but at the bank counters there
was perhaps less than the ordinary business trans
acted-the citizens generally regarding the mea-
sure OF suspeusi0n here as an inevitable consequence
Of that event in Philadelphia"
After the suspension by the Baltimore Banks an
ncuuced ahsve, preceded as it was by the suspen.
sion Of the Philadelphia institutions, 1t might be an
ticipated that the Banks ofthis District would ne
ccssarly yield to the force Of circumstances, and
suspend likewise. They therefore met and came
TO the following resolution;
At Il meeting ofdelegates from the Banks in
Washington aud Georgetown, October II, 1889,
the following resolution was adopted, viz:
Wheleas Information is received that the Banks
in Baltimore and Philadelphia have suspended spe-
Gle payments foe the present, and ii being the opin-
ion ofthe delegates Of the several banks in the city
of Washington and Georgetown here represented.
that the safety Of the banks and the interest Of the
community will not be promoted by an attempt to
sustain specie payments while Il suspension OF the
Northern banks shall continue: and whereas, al
though the banks here represented have abundant
means 10 meet all their liabilities, yet as q consid-
cradle part of their means have become unavailable
for the present as specie funds by the suspension Of
the banks in Philadelphia and Baltimore: BE il
therefore resolved. That it be, and is hereby, re.
commended 10 the several banks here represented
to suspend specie payments for the present, with a
pledge on the part of said banks to resume such
payments as soon as the banks in Philadelphia and
Baltimore shall do so.
The resolution is general in It's terms, bur we I'M
deistand that the Patriotic Bank did not concur IN
the resolution, or in the adoption Of the course pro-
posed by it.
The PHILADELPHIA SUsPENsIoN.-In its no.
tice of the suspension by the Philadelphia Banks,
the Philadel phia Sentinel, an Administrations paper,