The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1840-08-01

The Government to sell upon credit; the FIRST in
stalment of one-fourth to be paid DOWN. the
second in two years; the third in three years;
and the fourth in four years from the date of the
purchase. In 1917, Mr.. Monroe took his cele-
brated Western tour, and, for the first time saw
the fertile plains of Ohio. As it is with every
one who visits that section of the country, he
eturned to the Seat of Government with new
views of the rich resources of the West; and,
accordingly, in his Message to Congress, in 1877,
he recommended that the price of public lands
should be increased! Let tberemembered, that
the tide Of emigration set to the lands thus new
" acquired, unexampled in the history of this
country; that very large amount of Bank
paper, issued during the war, had accumulated
in the hands of hardy Adventures, in payment
Of produce, or in payment for services during the
war; that, in the newly acquired territory, al
though there was large amount of public
lands, there were but few private claims, and
that, as the settlements preceded the sales, there
was a competition for these private claims,
which up their price greatly beyond their
actual value. The effect of which, however,
was to give a nominal value to the adjacent
lands; and, in consequence of this and other
causes, the public lands sold in IS17-1S-19, at
the most exorbitant rates.
Thus, by the operation of these sales of pub
lie lands, very large amount of money which
had been disbursed on account of the Govern
ment passed again into the Public Treasury,
through the Land Office.
In this state of general prosperity, the CON
sumption of foreign goods, imported in 1916,
1917, and 1878, was greatly increased And, in
addition to the debt for public lands, created as
above, the commercial debt Of the Western coun-
try became excessively great. The Bank of the
United States, located at Philadelphia, at that
time the centre of commercial operations also
established Branches in the Western country
As the public funds were collected through the
Bank of the United States, the operation of the
Treasury was to transfer into that Bank the
large amount of money received for public lands.
| This, together with the demand created by the
commercial debt, placed the local Banks in the
power of the Bank of the United States. When
the pressure of the foreign debt commenced, the
Bank of the United States instead of selling the
amount of funded debt which they had or should
have had, and calling upon their own stock
holders, who were owing very large amount of
its whole line of discount; instead of making a
sacrifice to meet the demands of commerce, the
Directory became alarmed, and entered into an
unnatural war upon the Western Banks in
which the Government became its ally. The
| consequence was, that Tennessee, Kentucky, and
|
Branches of the Bank from their respective iu-
risdictions At this period, Mr.. Cheves was
called to the Presidency. He took his seat as
President of the Bank, on the 9th of March,
1919, and IN report to the stockholders, which
he made upon leaving that institution, he saws:
GA correspondence with the Secretary of the
Treasury was commenced, entreating his FOR
| BEARANCE and his AID, to which | beg leave
to refer. To this officer, would be ungrateful
and unjust, if were not publicly to acknow-
ledge my obligations, and those of the Bank,
for the COUNTENANCE and SUPPORT
which he afforded both in this STRUGGLES
beg the reader to note these facts, and to let
them be deeply impressed upon his memory
They are very important to a right understand
ing OF the financial history of this country, and
go far to explain, in connexion with the subse-
quent proceedings, how far an unvise admins
tration of the Treasury may affect the property.
the rights interests, and happiness of the people
At the present day there is no one who will de-
ny that the present state of things, the present
depressed state of business and of commerce il
the result of the course of the Administrations
of the clamor which has been got up against the
Banks and Banking. If l show that the suspen-
sion in the Western country in 1920, may be
traced to the same cause, it will go far towards
opening the eyes of the public and removing the
prejudice which exists against Banks and Bank
ing, BY showing that, in the first place, the ex-
cessive issue of Bank paper during the war,
was entirely owing to the necessities of the
Government itself, which was compelled not
only to countenance the suspension of the Banks,
but to rely exclusively Bank paper for the
means of carrying on the war And If, after
having induced the Banks to extend their dis
counts, and having awaited themselves of the
peculiar condition of the country to induce the
Western people to go largely into debt for lands,
under the expectation that the same state of
things would continue, and that they would be
enabled to pay for them by the proceeds Of their
industry, the Government itself, through the
fiscal action of the Treasury, withdrew the
means upon which they relied for payment and
crushed the local Banks, the fault was in the
Government more than in the Banks. Precisely
as it now is, when Gen. jackson, after having
seized the deposites in the Bank of the United
States, with a view to operate on his own cleo
ton, and fearful of the effect which the necessa-
ry contraction would have upon his popularity,
stimulated the local Banks, into which he had
transferred the deposites, to the public funds,
SO as to increase the Bank issues greatly beyond
what they were before, finding that they had
been extended beyond what the business of the
country would justify, suddenly, upon the pas
sage of the Distribution bill, or Deposite Act.