Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1840-02-18


gress Of a National Bank.
his instruction corresponds with the opiIl-
ion / have repeatedly expressed and acted on.
and Icould now feel.no difficulty IN conform
ing my vote 70 your wishes on this subject.
Secondly. am instructed g to vote for and
use all fair and proper exertions to procure the
passage ofthe measure brought forward III the.
Congress Of the United States, commonly call
ed the Sub Treasury Bill, or independent
Treasury Bill, &C., &C..
The following, with many other reasons, M
duce me to believed ought not to comply with
the instructions consained IN this resolution
Il has often happened, and vii generally
be the case; tlata considerable time must e.
lapse betweent the receipt Of public money from
the debtor to the. United States, and its dis.
.bursenlent to their creditors during this IN.
terval, the money win bemuch more safe II
the hands of well selected banks than lit car
be. N the hands Of individuals, supposing them
to be faithful.
Suppose any one ofyour honorable body had
one hundred'thonsand dollars of his own money
which he did not intend to use for SIX or nine
months, andllycd intFe vicinity ola bank Of
respectable standing, would be keepthe money
m his own house, under his own care, or would
he deposit it ID bank, for safe keeping; until he
wished to use ita. Ifhe was prudent man
regarding his own interest, he would certainly
deposit it.
Are we then justified in taking less care Of
the peoples money than prudent man would
Of his own? With great Difference to your bet
ter judgment, Think not.
ltoften happens that the receiving officers
have on hand much larger sums than that ma
med IN the supposed case; and, as the sum is
increased, and the time it is tobe kept, between
its receipt and disbursement, enlarged, the
DANCE. of.loss, when IN. the hands Of an indi-
vidual, is increased ike wise.
Again. All experience teaches US that large
sums Of public money left in the hands Of indl-
uals viii be misused and squandered. Il will
either be used by the individual himself, for
his own purposes, or loaned to importunate
friends, whom he may wish to accommodate
and who are sure not to be able to return i
when called for.
1t is said banks are irresponsible, therefort
lot to be trusted Ia my opinion, generally
they are more responsible than individuals :
They have more means with which to pay
and if they fail. to make payments, when re
CURED, they are as mach amenable toshe pro
cessota court of justice as individuals are; -ant
In addition, they are to be. fond with mucl
more. certainty as a corporation aggregate
can very seldom abscond, or leave the coun
try, which an individual easily can, and Otter
4oes do, when he misuses The public money
WeGeed all the checks which can .reasona
bly, be imposed on our collecting and disburs
! saofficers. Banks have been found to farn
ish one, highly beneficial upon both of tAesi
c assCs By a regulation etween Il e Treasur-
Department aud each Dcposte Bank, the lat
ter has been required, at short periods, to fur
hish its account current with the Treasurer
and on the face oft, to shew all sums depost
Cd to his credit, when. such deposites were
IA. 4, and by whom. BY comparing this &C
count With The accounts furnished BY the re
spectlve officers themselves it can rea div. b,
| discovered whether they aremisusing the pu
e money, or not. BY the proposed change
| and allowing the Collector. or Receiver to b
| himself the keeper, until the money is wante
for use, you have no cheek whatever; and th
whole money received by an officer may b
squandercd before it IS wanted for disbnrse
ment, without any means ofdetection.
], therefore, conclude the SUBJ Treasury Ri
ought not TO be passed, If there were no 9th
er objections to it save that Of the public nor
ey being less secpre;. but there are other weig
ty objections,
The only plausible. reason which can be. a.
signed why we should discard banks entirely
and appoint Sub Treasurers as keepers of III
Public Funds. must be, that the banks are VI
worthy ofconfdence.
If that be So, does it not necessarily folio
that you ought either not to receive any Ban
notes in discharge of debts due tothe govern
ment or, if received, that you should ordt
the officer with whom they are deposited fl
safe keeping, Immediately to call upon I'll
Banks. for specie to TIER amount. 1t is al
surd to say we win not deposite with the Ban
because we have no confidence IN II, and at I'll
same time to allow our officers to receive Ban
notes and retain them in the hands efour Office
up to the time we wish to pay the money !;
way. There is less probability that the Banl
would redeem their notes in specie, when cal
ed on, than that they would deny thepaymel
ofspecie for money received on deposite.
| The practice, then. Of receiving nothing b
specie from debtors; or of Immediately col
verting the notes. received into specie. and lol
ing that up until the time Of disbursement a
rives, must, be resorted to IN order to carry o.
your wishes.
This, apprehended, would De ruinoas
society.
A large portion Of the specie that mig
i otherwise circulated, could be'withdrawnfro
the use of every person a considerable. porto
ofeach year. This would affect the prices
properly, Of labor, and of every thing else, al
would render il next to impossible for even
prudent man, who happened to be in debt, e
er to extricate himself
Besides this, the heavy draws for specie u
on Banks would compel them, In a short tim
either to wind up, or to do very precariul
business, Whenever a suspension Of spec
payments would take place, we would have
deprecated paper currency, on which to do Il
business ofthe country; and specie would b
come an article of merchandise. The man
Office, or who had job or contract with Il
Government, would receive his salary or
Ipay in specie which. he would immediate
sci! for Bank paper, receiving a premium
some ten or fifteen per centhIn; and with th
paper pay his debts, or purchase such prope-t
as he might wish. i his practice is at this m
ment in operation: For every hundred dolla
paid me, as a member of Congress, can r
ceiye one hundred and eight, or nine dollars
Bank notes, with them, pay the landlord vi
f feeds, or the tailor who clothes me.
It has appeared to meif We commence Il
entire separation which your resolution CO
templates and 60 into this thorough hard N
J neY system, we shall presently. in Tenness
especially, bein a deplorable condition. Lo
4 atits effects: all debts and taxes are to bepa
to the Federal Government IN hard money,
in Bank Notes, for which the specie be 4
mediatey received and the specie thus Tecei
ed is 10 be locked up securely, until t y Pa
ort IN discharge Of some debt due by thu 10
|, eminent. Suppose our first years taxes pa
in al the states amounting tosome tSVenty-ll
5 or thirty millions Of dollars. That IS only
,a....,..I..tin. s.zl,n1, the Eadel