The Yazoo City Whig and political register. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 183?-1840, 1839-09-20
The disorders of mississippi Currency.

1he disorders of Mississippi Currency
The disorders and disadvantages atten-
dant upon the currency Of our State are so
very apparent, and the causes which have
led to them are so clearly discernable, that
they do not admit of rational difference OF
opinion. And most assuredly, il is Of party
political prejudice and feeling that differen-
ces of opinion seem to exist, and that argu-
ment is admitted upon the subject.
Every body agrees that deep rooted dis
ease and vital deforniity has hold Of the
whole banking operation of Mississippi
And the question for the people to solve is,
sOhGt has been the cause, and aOhere Is the
remedyg Up to a very recent period, the
Van Buren, party in this State, have univer-
sally expressed themselves in favor of ''re-
form in banking" and correction of the
evils which attend its system and opera
TONS" But within few weeks they have
changed ground entirely, and repudiating
all their former doctrines, and so recently
and so Vehemenhy expressed opinions, they
now come forward in totally new dressed
political sentiments, and declare for ga total
ANN1HlLATIoN Of the sOhOle system Of banking,
and the ENTIRE EXPULSION Of all paper cur
rency.'' And this fact is the more strange
and unaccountabe, when we consider, that
the very prominent doctrine advocated by
that party, is the issue of paper currency,
by the Secretary of the Treasury, in shape
of drafts, which in the absence of banks,
will inevitably ill the channels of trade and
business, at present occupied by bank notes,
and which, so far as the mere utility or inu-
tility of ''paper currency" is concerned,
would be but the substitution Of Treasury
Note circulation for a Bank Note circnla-
ton.
But to the .Mississippi questiOn,-what is
the difficulty with our banking. and how is
it to be remedied? A great obstacle in the
way of solution of this question seems to
be, 'Ohy are not other surrounding States in
as bad situation as zoe are? We will an
swer this question as we pass on.
In the absence of a system of domestic
exchanges, those States most indebted TO-
persons and corporations out Of their own
limits, and which foreign indebtedne Isl
due and pressing, suffer the greatest disof
ders Of local currency, The foreign debt
of Alabama is nearly as great in proportion,
as ours, and her local currency is in about as
bad situation. The foreign debt Of LOuisi-
ana is more than double or nearly treble
that of our own State, and the reason why
her local currency is not in a worse situation
than our own. is very obvious. From three
to seven years ago in the establishment of
banks, she made very heavy loans in Europe,
which put off the payment of her foreign
debt, and changed it from one due, or near
ly due. into one not due for from thirty to
sixty years hence. So that for all immedi-
ate purposes, that state has done the same
as to pay some twenty millions of her foreign
debt. The business operations of .arkGnsGs
have been quite inconsiderable in compare
son with those of the other States above
mentioned. Her foreign debt is small, though
she has some that is pressing, and in con-
sequence, has but little or no local currency.
The situation of the foreign debt and the
currency of Michigan is in about as bad a
condition as that of Alabama or Mississippi,
and that Of Florida is quite as bad or worse.
And to look over the whole South and West,
it is seen at once, that there is a general dis
order in the local currency of each State.
(for they are all in debt to the north) and
this disorder is seen to be precisely in pro-
portion, as near as can be calculated, to the
amount of foreign Indebtedness of each,
which is due or nearly due.
Mississippi then. is in about the same stu
alton, as regards the disorders of her cur
rency, as the other portions of the South and
West, or the debtor States, in proportion ia
foreign Indebtedness. The producing por.
ton Of the people of the South and West
for the want Of local currency and .
mode Of conducting exchanges, pay an an.
nual tribute to the North, of not dollar les
than seven or eight millions, for the mer,
conveyance of funds.
We see then, that there are other sections
Of the debt or portion Of the United States
Alabama, Michigan and Florida at least
which are in about as bad situation a
Mississippi; and we see why Mississippi i
in greater difficulty than other parts Of tn,
country in the same commercial and agri
cultural position.
And we see also, that the cause Of the dis
ease in our local currency is, that beiny
without . system or mode or manner Of con
Quoting domestic exchange operations, ",
cannot SUSTAIN our foreign debt. Il presses
for payment uneOnditiOna payment, and n
transmission Of funds, in any way, OF TO an
amount. can Be made but By the actual pro
cess ofPRoDucTIoN. And 50 long Is exchane
! o. transmission Of funds from here % yonder