Staunton spectator, and general advertiser. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 183?-1849, 1840-01-09

l ~'' hOtCS, lfOm the banks. III
keep up their supply of coin. these ;ns,;t,,
tions are Obliged to call upon their own deb,-
ors' who pay them principally in their own
notes. which are as unavailable TO them &C
they are TO the merchants to meet the foreiur
uemand. Inc calls of the banks. Therefore
III such emergencies, of necessity. exceed fin,
demand, and produce Il corresponding curtaiI.
rnent OF their accommodations and Of the CIR.
rency, at the very moment when the state oI
trade renders 1t most inconvenient to he horne
Inc Intensity of this pressure on the comm.
my is In proportion to the previous liberalitv
Oh credit and consequent expansion of the chr
.ehcy' forced sales of property are made at
ao .,"1 "Ieh me means of purchasing are
, m leIuceo' ana the worst calamities to in
dividuals are only at least arrested. bv an onar,
violation of their obligations by the hanks :,
refusal to pay specie for their notes. and an
! imposition upon the community of n Hpcm,,
ting and deprecated currency.
lheSe consequences are inherent in tho ,,ro
sentsystem. They are not influenced by tho
! banks being large or small, created nv M
tlonal or State Governments. They are tho
results of the irresistible laws of trade and
credit. In the recent events which have ca
striklngly illustrated the certain effects ri
'nese laws, we have seen the bank of the lar
Sest capital IN the Union, established under a
National charter, and lately strengthened as
we Were authoritatively informed, by exchan-
glhg 'hat 1or State charter, with new and nm
usual privileges-in condition too. ne il
was said, of entire soundness and oreo, nr s -
penty-not merely unable to resist these of
iec.S, but the first to yield to them.
Nor Is 1t to be overlooked that there ex;sts
chain OF necessary dependence amonq these
institutions which obliges them. to a Great
extent, TO follow the course of others. notWitb-
Slanolng Its injustice to their own Immediate
creditors, or injury to the particular commune.
" In which they are placed. This depend-
ehce OF bank, which is in proportion to the
extent OF Its debts for circulation and denos-
ites' is not merely on others in its own yicini-
w. put on all those which connect it with the
cehtre OF trade. Distant banks NAV fail
Wlthout seriously affecting those in our prin,
Iipai commercial cities; but the failure Of the
it %.'ei 10 ieit at the eXtremties of the Union.
L ne suspension at New York, in 1897. was
every where, with very few executions COL
lowed, as soon as it was known thai recent-
~ at fhliadelphla Immediately affected the
banks OF the South and West in similarman0
hef. Inns dependence of our whole bonl iro.
system on The institutions in few larUa q;
'ies, is not found liz the laws of their oEo,,,i
Zatlon, but in those of trade and excbanrra
1 ne banks at that centre to which curra,so,'
iows' and where 1t is required in payments
i ,e merchandise, hold the power of controI
ing - those In regions whence it comes. while
~ .ie idtter possess no means of RESTRAINING
anein; SO that the value ofindividual property.
anu the prosperity oftrade, through the whole
interior of the country. are made 5o dono mi'oie
the good or bad MANAGEMENT of tho III nu oh
institutions III the great states of trade on the
seaboard "e VII Tie
But TINS chain of dependence does not sion
mere. 1t does not terminate at Philadeplia
VI new Y ork- 1t reaches across the ocean
ana ENDS In London, the centre of the credit
system. The same laws of trade, which rive
TO the banks in our principal cities power over
the Whole banking system of the Upitod
States, subject the former, in their turn. to tho
money power in Great Britain. 1t is mot do
nied that the suspension of the New York
banks In 1887, which was followed in ouick
succession throughout the Union, was nrodu-
ced by an application of that power and it is
nv" aiiegeu' In eXtenuation Of the present
condition oi so large portion of Our hanks
that their embarrassments have arisen frnr'
the same cause.
From this influence they cannot now on
hrely escape, for it has its origin in the credit
currencles OF the two countries If is STRENGTH
ened by the current of trade and EXCHANGE
WHICH centres In London, and is rendered al.
most irresistible by the large debts contracted
mere by our merchants, our banks. and our
STATES. 1t is thus that an Introduction of q
new bank into the most distant of orr v;lI,oras'
Places the business of that villaue within The
ihhuence OF the money power in ENGLAND II
Is mus that every new debt which we contract
III mat country, seriously affects our own cur
iency, and extends over the pursuits of our
oi'i-eIis its powerful influence. We cannot
H.,
vi small, t'tdte or National. The same chains
wiich Dind those now existing TO the centre
Oh this system of paper credit, must eou.lI,,
ie''er every similar institution we create. il
10 o'iy ny the extent to which this svsteno
mas oeen pushed of late, that we have boen
iiduG iully aware OF its irresistible tendency
10 SUBJECT our own banks and currency 70
vast controlling power in FOREIGN land and
IL auus d new argument to those which illus-
!rate their precarious situation. ENDANGERED
III the hrSt place by their own misma9aoe-
ineht, ana again by the conduct of every In
91'uioh winch connects them with the rem
We VI udue In our own country, they are vet
suolecled' beyond all this, to the effect of
"i''eVel measures, policy, necessity, or ca
Piioe' may induce those who control the Gre
dts of England to resort tn MOI, ,"o "
ooii'iieHt upon these measures present or mast
and much less to DISCOURAGE the nrosocIfft; go
Oh ialr commercial dealing between the two
{. based on reciprocal benefits but
IL having now been made manifest tbat fbo
power OF iniiIcting these and similar iniur;es,
lS' by tne reslstless law Of credit CURRENCY /
al'o cted,t trade, equally capable of extend
ing their consequences through all the rarnii- /
catlons OF our banking system, and by that
means indirectly obtaining, particularly when /
our :: banks are used as repositories of the pnb-