Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-09-10

on THE u. s. FISCAL BANK BILL.
Delivered IN the House Of hepresensaots1 - 1871
TCoscLuDED
will now endeavor TO show that Federal Bank
d mt purify the currency at all times fnrnsh the
country with a sound circulating medium In support
of this position, beg permission to adduce various
authorities to all OF which invite your serious at
tention. - - ca,
Iangdon chcves was President of the Bank ct the
II before MIR Nicholas Biddle was; and in the ex'
noston Of the state of the Bank, drawn up ny Mr.
Cheves. and laid before the stockholders, ne SAID
sThe institution commenced active banking opera
tons abou, the LIST of January lel and IN the course
of The wear established eighteen branches
The Bank inlme diatey on lis commencement, a'o
yerv extensive bnsiness-impored vast sums Oh sPe
ce-and its notes and those Of the offices, without re-
nj e.. = The result was.
that The Bank and the great Northern ofhces were
drained of their capital and on the 2oth 1uv lolo
only cirheeu months after the institution began us
operstinns it was obliged to commence rdPta anu
bsarv eurta,imeu of the business Of the Bank ana as
.,Tc.s Durinp all this time, it had the advantage
of immense Government depos,es At the moment
,ho. cnr,ailmen,s were ordered the Government de-
posites in the Bank aud It's branches, including Tue
deposiies of public officers amounted TO asm mt
lions Of dollars and they had been larger a. preceons
perods Curtaments ordered from time to time
at the Southern and Western Offices to the amount OF
SO 500 900 and upwards, between the 30h July, leie'
and the lst of April 1919 No curtailments were or
dered at the offices Of New York and Boston, because
there was no room for them, yet necessity Obliged
,bem N reduce their business very much The cura'l'
,nents Mt all points within the above mentioned CAFES
being eight months, were six millions hve hundred any
thirty thousand dollars Yet, after these INN -nse ana
rand curtailmen;s the most sensible ana v''ai Po''
pb,delphia New York, and BostonD were INFINITE
l. in worse condition than when the remedy was us
I;sed The specie in the vaults OF the Bank,
at the close Of the day. the lst OF April loi3 was
only Si267i5 % and the Bank owed Tue Guy na'"s
S79l25 % 1t is true there were IN me nl'nt so
.i7S md IN truasitu from Kentucky ana ono' over
land $3.50 900; but the Treasury divioends weae pay
able on that day to the amount oil near S'ou,ooo' anu
there remained, at the close OF Inc cay more a
half of the sum subject TO draft and the greater part
IF tb. sum which had been drawn during Tie cay re-
manned charge upon the Bank, IN the shape o. tenn
porary deposites, which were almost mmea'aeiy "'','
drawn Accordingly, IN the i2th o inc same "',i''
tho Rank had in Ills vaults hut ST. 3, ana owcd 10 the
c;,v Ranks balance of S96, 4lS-exceedny the spr-
Gle in lis vaults 1924 sos Unjust again DC remarRed'
that i; had yet the before mentioned IN me mum,
nc well as the sum IN traasi'u from ONO ana Men
tuckv this last sum- (S25U,O00D arrived very season.
oblv on the next day, day or lso thereafter ne
pank in this suation the office nj New oIk was te
better and the Office Boston great deal worse AZ
The same time, the Bank owed TO Barlng' Dfothsis ~
Co and Thomas Wilson Co, nearly 9o0 ooO dollars,
which il was bound 10 pay immediately, ana whch was
eonvalent 10 charge upon its vaults to that amount
T. had including the notes ofthe Offices, circulation oil
six millions Of dollars 10 meet To which were TO be so'
ded the demands of depositors puhc ana p'iva'-ata
time too when the scarcity o' money called uFh every
dsposabe dollar and therefore created demands np"h
the Bank for an unusual portion al the ordinary G'po
s,es and circulation. Tne sums which were collected
daily on account Of the revenue, IN branch paper,
were demandabe the next day in Philadelphia and at
the same time at every Office of the establishment al
the discretion of the officers Of the Government. Inc
revenue was principally paid in branch paper, as wei
a.. nd Npv' pTS a
the duties were thus pa IT one counter IN oraach pa
per- the debenturts, winch amounted 70 one Woh VI
dollars every three months, were demanded ana Pad
Mt the other in sprc.c lis equiv alent-noney oi the
place Many additiona! details, increasing The diilcn
i,es Of the moment might be added The Southern
offices were renting ardily, and the Western not al
all 7 the Of the Bank would not have sus
famed il in this course and mode OF business another
month" ,
In 1925, there existed money pressure: and on the
10th Apr,l of tha, year. Mr. Nicholas Bddle who had
succeeded Mr. Cheves President OF the Bank OF the
L. : published an essay in the National Gazette:
.sThe question is" said Mr. Bidde, "what is the
cause and the nature of the present scarcity OF money
nThe answer easy.
.The currency of the IT, S. consists of coin and o
bank notes promising to pay COIN AS long as Tie
banks can acays pay The coin they promise, they arr
useful, because, in country where the moneyed capi
ta is dspoporiioned to the means OF employing capi
tal the substitution of credits for coins enables the
ton to make It's exchanges with less CON- and OF course
saves the expense of that coin But this advantage has
BY It's side great danger Banks are often directed BY
nccdy persons, who borrow too much, or by sangunt
persons anxious only 10 increase the profits, without
much pecunary interest personal responsibility II
the administration. The constant tendency Of banks IS
therefore, TO lend nueh, and TO put too many notes
Ike the power of steam" Mr.. Biddle said, 81
mixed currency is eminenty useful III prudent hands
but of tremendous hazard when not conro!rd and Tn
practical wisdom in managing it, hes IN se'z'ng th
nroner moment to expand and contract itiak'ng care
in working with such exploSirc materIals wheneVe
there is doubt, 10 incline TO the siae OF sa'e'y,
"Never," said the Frankfort (kentucky) Argus Q
june 1919 "wthn the recollection of our Oldest cit
zens the aspect of the times, as respects propef
and money, been alarming. Already has proper'
been sacrificed considerable quantities, IN TINS an
the neighborfng countless for less than nay ITS value
We have but little money IN circuation and that iti
is daily diminishing by the uni1sat calls Of The BANKS
Neither lands, negroes, nor any other article, can b
sold for half their value in cash. while executionst TO TN
amount of many hundreds of thousands OF dollars, ar
hanging over the heads OF our cllizens. "hat can
doDe!" w
A Kentuckian, writing in the Edwardsve illinois
Spectator, confirmed this gloomy account "Loo
now" said he, ''as Kentucky What spectacle doe
she present. Nothing is 10 be seen but boundieS
expanse of desoation, Wealth apprenticeship
p- 81 checked-commerce at q sand-ihe currency dc
prccrn,cd-all that indicative of State prosperi
and advancement plunged into the great vortex OF IRE
d,atr Involvement
in January, 1920, the Senate of Pennsylvania ap
panted a committee with C"ndy Racquet at It's head
to inquire into the and extent OF the public DIS
trsss In their report the committee referred 10 "run
Gus sacrifices of landed property at sherfs sales
.orced sales of merchandise, household goods, farming
stock and utensils prices tar below the cost of pro
duclion-ssa general scarcity OF money throughout III
eountry-"an almost entire cessation of the usual cir
culation of commodities, and consequent stagna''o
of business -"numerous law suits upon the docket
of our courts-"usurious extortions, and SHE over
flowing of our prisons with insolvent debtors, &c.
In June, 1899, MIR. Niles remarked that inrty wv
merchants of Boston had stopped payment WITHIN I'M
period of a month; and on the Sd OF August, he MAD
The following quotation from Salem paper 1--WE re
gret TO learn that failures continue 10 take place amos
daily at Boston, of them of persons extensively
engaged in commerce. We are Informed that within
the last months there have been more than eigh
failures in that city The embarrassment distress nnt
alarm, which such state Of things must necessarily
produce, indeed serious calamity. "Tlie amount
Of these failures, for the last two months, adds MIR
Niles, sis said TO be than three millions q dot
lars"