Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1841-04-02

to pay their nadS, 10 purchase Oh te DfohefS III pre-
mums averaging from one to three dollars per hun
drcd. This is too bad, especially when we know
that our Legislature could in the course of few
hours repeal the act prohibiting the issue of small
notes, and thus relieve the community to very coD-
siderable extent" So far have the evils of an almost
exclusive paper circulation grown upon us, under
the present ruinous banking system, that we as
patiently bear them though they were irrascble,
forgetting to look at their first to see if no per-
manent cure can be effected. The Enquirer attrib-
utes the evil to the disposition OF the Legislature not
to allow the banks to supercetc the necessity of any
silver change at all by the issue Of small notes not
denomina,cd, and perhaps down to sixand-a-quarter
cents Is this the real cause of the evil Was it
not specie, Mr. Enquirer, that these me ,hancs and
manufacturers wanted, instead Of small notes =
The evils are to be found in tie management of the
banks or why the use Of the brokers'! or upon what
would they subsst They neither toll nor labor,
nor produce single necessary of life, and yet they
live in princely mansions taring sumpuousy every
day, while the farmer and the laboring man sweat
from nontill night, for which they obtain lu scan
tv pttancc Then is there something wrong in our
present system Of State Governments, aye, in the
minds OF the people themselves, which requires a
speedy remedy! There is, and it viii continue I'M
ii, the people become thoroughly convinced Of it, and
den7Gsad a REFORM.
We make 30 professions to financial skill and
knowledge, bat VIC have the vanity 10 believe that
we have seen enough of this world to prove that
evils enough in its banking systems, sanctioned by
the people, 10 grind US in poverty perjury and want
until they are eralicatcd Our country is extensive
beyond present wants, productive as needs be for
all Of them, allowing enough for transportation
in exchange for necessary imports, with CONNER
cial advantages to the highest extent, and yet our
country is poverty-stricken, indebted hundreds of
millions to foreign capitalists, with almost universal
individual indebtedness weighing US down, Gripping
our gics and throwing US deeper into the vortex
of ruin. Cast the eye around and take RETROSPECT.
tive review Of our country for the last quarter of
century, and see if the evils which now harrass Us,
have not been continually growing upon us, and then
country from bankruptcy wihouta radical reform in
the past aud present banking system. Look al the
splendid banking houses and brokers' shops scatter
ed through every city in the United States, observe
arc, how exravaganty they live d dress how COM
Portable they are in their deness, their morning and
afternoon maps being protected by law from inter
ruption by note holders. rccollect the heavy bonus
1.-TWO millions of dollars y which the late Monster
agreed to pay the State of Pennsylvania for char
ter by the Legislature and reflect that each aboring
man, however poor and humble, has to bear part III
these enormous expenses! What picture docs it
present! More than thousand bank officers and
brokers' fed and fatening upon the wealth which the
labor of others creates. They not only make pro-
able business out of the system, but feel free TO give
two millions Of dollars to State for the privilege of
swindng tie people oat of portion of their well
earned dues. Does it require a sentence of argu-
ent to prove that what is the interest of the banks
is against those Of the people! 1t does not, in the
minds of those who take proper view of the sub
IL that increase te real wealth Of a country, and it
is upon their labor that the banks, and through them
the brokers amass so much wealth, then is it not APP
parent to all that Tie banks gain is the lahorers loss
Mysliv the question as much as it can be, ard this
fact must still stand out to condemn our overgrown
system of banking. Were the banks and brokers
10 be sustained by direct taxation upon the indus
Try Of the country wc would soon find half Of it
IN arms, rather submit to such entertainments yet
Dy the indirect manner IN which they arc taxed, it
las heretofore borne it with sca,ce nurmur.
The only arguments which are produced to prove
heir utility are tina; they make money plc;'ier en-
ab!c poor mea to commence business, furnish ox
:hange, and receive and pay out the funds Of the
government, and to keep them regulated, National
Bank IS required It is true tat tie substitute for
money i; made plenty, flowing fer awhile in protu-
sion bit they afford Only visionary relief TO the
country. They coin not dollar to increase the re-
Al wealth of the country, but pour out their promises
o pay upon an interest that will dovour the prnci-
pal before payment is made upon it, if made at
all, SO that discount bank alone at the expiration
IF twenty years charter, will have more than its
capital stock clear gain; besides its profits in the
oss and destruction of its notes. If mixed cur
.ency is so necessary in allorlng rcm;ttanccs &c,
why not restrict the issues Of bank to the amount
Of specie in It's vaults Whcn their issues exceed
heir capital they cannot redeem them il presented
ycfore the interest on them dcvours the excess But
t is contendcd that there is not specie enough for
such basis, or for circulating medium. Grant
his assertion and docs it prove the utility of the
present system! What Justice is there in allowing