Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1840-02-18

tir;.d ~. the Bank Of England under tie ios' auSI
cious circumstances, and II has utterly laiisa'
rTh, real capital of the Bank of England Is ABOUT 81
ony millions OF dollars, and II has ten branches a m
mosi commercial and manufacturing points OF 'he 's
dom In 1886, the rate Of foreign exchange waS IA
l., nra;nst England The specie OF the BANK Wa
,IorcSnrc GRADUALLY drawn from ITS vaults lot cAPu
aim 1t became necessary, for lis own saivao'' tna
sboud make vigorous effort TO diminish inc amount
ne the circulating paper medium, ana 'heIc ny ~
the equilibrium Of the foreign exchanges. ne jam
orod;,s and currency Of England had become 80 m
1,d aud N con,eoucncc The prices OF ali articles
had advanced to such a Standard that, Y" use the
LANGUAGE of one of their own statesmen, i iiau
tho hs country TO sell in, and the worst country 20
- -; nvcrr production which could be admitted to
80, and On account of the high paper prices OF lher
domestic productions, their exports were greatly a''l
,sbed The consequence was, Q continued anu iu'',
Gus drain of specie from Tue damn VI rnsiu - - |
inst The balance of the trade against that county
III h,L vol knew that, if 1T could limit the amount
of The paprr c;rcuatlon II would reduce 'le price u
IL homc productions in the same proportion, and
M ,nd.r profitable for foreign ncchans to export
Rrt,sh manufactures instead OF specie For thus puF-
go !, contracted its loans and issues, III the VAN nope
hot the Joint stock and private banks would DC com
.Iad 10 follow its example. In our slang, II pun me
| r-.,ys anon them. What the result: shall not
| n,er mon detail Of particulars II Is sufficient to
,v that as il contracted the other banks oil The kiig
dom expanded their loans and their issues and ha' 100,
N greater proportion than ITS loans ad issues were
shed. Frees still continued 10 rise, ana buiioh
,;l continued to be drawn out of the Bank torexpora-
t;on The utter mpotency of this grand regulator OF the
to control the other banks and keep the pa
nor currency of the kingdom within such limits as 10
arrest the expectation OF gold and silver, mas mus pee
ca clearly demonstr that many OF their abcst
statesman despair Of accomplishing the object IN any
other manner than BY restricting the issues OF paper
money TO a single bank, and regulating their amount
bv the agency of the Government Here, theh, IS an
;mnortant fact incontestably established II this be
,rpc and there can be no question of its truth, would
ask The Senator how National Bank, even with u
capital fty millions ofdollas, could regulate and re-
strain within proper limits the loans ana ISSUES OF
Il eight hundred State Banks, scattered over the whole
exent ofthis vast country: The thing is impossible.
Il could not be accomplished by such bank
And what is the condition of the Bank of England al
the present moment; According to the testimony oil
Mr. uorslev Palmer lis president given before the Sc
crct committee of the House of Commons previous to
its re-chartcr in 1888 the principle on which It had pro-
ceeded IN regulating s issues, was 10 Keep as nuch
coin and bullion in lis Golfers as amounted oa ihIrd par'
Of its liabilities, including sums deposited, 40 wen ~
notes in circulation Experience had established me
fact that this rule oonc for :hrce Differentiation aud de-
positrs was the safe proportion lSneccsStis have com
PEELED to depart wildly lr" tins rule CT IT'S own crra
ton Instead Of being able to regulate Inc loans ana -
sncs of other tanks has with difficulty been able to
save itself Ii has been going down and down, until ac
cordng the las; quarterly statement OF IT'S condition
which have seem had not 81 sterling N bullion ior
seven of lis circulation and drPos'ies In ihis respect
in our own country In order to save itself from utter
ruin British pride has humh!ed itself 50 much, thai
. the Bank Of England became supp!Iant to that OF
France, for supply Of bullion which was gr&ciouSiv
though condescendingly, granted. This fact Is The
highest evidence is possible TO present OF the advan
= tages which country, the basis OF whose circulation
= gold and silver, enjoys over another country whose
, paper currency is greatly expanded lhc tank o
England will probably see the day, under IT'S pre-
: charter when lis bullion will again be equal &c
one.thrd OF It's circulation and dc?ositcs Indeed, on
bad crop, IN its present condition, would drain OF II
: gold and silver for the purpose oi purchasing ioresi
' gram and compel it TO suspend specie payments NcI
Their this bank nor the Bank Of the Unitcd States, cat
ever be relied upon regulators the loans and issue
l. of the other banks of their respective countries
y The Senator from Kentucky would have "a 'rdi re-
&c Su'atcd Bank of the L. ). lie lays great emphasis
D upon the words "~eH rtgnl0tcd. Does he mean Il
Al nsnuae that the present Bank of Tie L. s, under 1T
charter from Congress- not the best regulated banl
r which the world ever saw: had thought, that in hi
! opinion, this Bank perfection Itself The truth
however, is, that any regulations which You can pre-
= scribe in The Charter Of such institution Viii be dis
Il regarded Whenever powerful interest ;clM'cs thea
: violation Like the strong man ~ TIC Scriptures.
e will snap the cords hy which II IS hnpnc ~ q i"y
(! thread 1t Will calculate upon violating rs cInr'c
n VITA pcricct IMMUNITY because il we'll knows how
wiling Congress would lie 20 nc! much cy,! :pur
The country would necessarily rcS; from is suddcr
- destruction. Once put sGc! an institution INTO sue
= ccsSul operation, and can no longer regulate H.
motion bv the restrictions of lis charter The pcScn
&c Bank !awlcss institution, up until the
:, day when ii irauducntly seized upon the entire cir
c.a,ion Of the cd Bank, illegal branch drafts and
y all, aud compelled Congress TO pass law making
u it pcnicn!iary offence IN It's officers 10 reissue
n these srcsurrcction notes. Under its State charter
d il has been to It's orlgna! character. Although
u It has charter such as no other banking nst
} ton had il has already been guilty of several
! papablc violations Of ihs charter independently oi
l. having i~!cc suspended Specie payments. shall not
trouble the Senate with the enumeration Of these vio-
laons. II is now at the mercy Of the Legislature. IL
= has pronounced lis doom under ITS own charter;
;, and on. remains for the Legislature the Co
vernon 10 carry tins sentence into execution, through
+ the agency OF the judicial tribunals Whether they
shall enforce this forfeiture not, for them in tcr
wisdom to determine, not for shall not, III this
place. attempt 10 Interfere with their high and RESPONSE
bic duties, although should consider the greatest Of
a all bank reforms If this Bank could be bottcd out OF
u existence.
The Senator ridculcd the idea that the establishment
of bank Of the United States could prove danger
ous Ia cry liberty. Such bank, with Il capital Of roia
fifty 10 hundred million. Of dollars with branches in
every Stat" OF The tniou directing, by lis expansions
and com,rac,ons, when prices should rise and when
they should fall, would lie most tremendous nsru-
mcnt OF irresponsible power. Ii would be a machine
much mere formidable. than this Government even if
the Administration corrupt a fancy OF Some
gentlemen has painted it, There is natural alliance
between wealth and power. Mr.. Randolph said
. Male and female created he them. Combine the
moneycd arisocracy of the country through the agen
cy Of National Bank, with the Administration and
their united power would create influence which it
would be almost impossible for the people to with
stand We should never again these powers in
hostile array against each other. In the days of Gen.
Jackson we witnessed the exception, not the rule.
Give any President such Bank as have described,
and shall hereafter have most peaceful succession.
With all the power of the Executive combined with all
the wealth of the country, he would he the
blockhead IN the world if he not able to rcrlcct
himSe and his All the forms
of the Constitution n.ight sill! remain The people.
might sll be deludcd with the idea that they elected
their presidents but the anlang spirit OF our free in
s''tutinns would be gone for \ secret but all
pcrvadn@, moncycd influence, would sap the founda-
tons "i liberty and render II an empty
Tie immense power OF such institution mani
Tested in the tremendous efforts which il made against
General jackson Had he not enjoyed more personal
popularity IN !s country than an7 man who ever
lived, these efforts would have proved irresistible. rs