The Charlotte journal. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1835-1851, 1842-01-13
NUMBER IS.

pubic iuhos wiz De 10 Their proper place,
. entirely beyond bis reach or control. until
: Congress shall appropriate them TO tAei-
r destined purposes. From that time they
e will go into the hands Of disbursipg agents,
e as'rhe public service may require, protect
ed still by official responsibility and ade.
quate bonds, and still beyond any inierla.
:, renee by the Executive power. In the
!, Exchequer, therefore, the public treasures
!. will be safe--safe against the usual causes
3 Of loss and danger, and safe from Executive
D control.
$ Blu, the Excbequer is expected TO do
g more than merely TO keep safely the public
: money.
4 Its second object is 10 furnish a sound
, paper circulation, in which debts to the
j Government may be paid, and which NAV
e also DO useful to the commerce and general
D business Of the country. The first Of these
} functions is purely fiscal and the insiru.
+ mentality Of such paper medium. 10 Ger.
tam exgencias Of The country, may become
; indispensable TO the exercise Of the highest
duties Of Government.
In SO reasoning upon this subject, as to
come &c any practical conclusions, il is re.
ccssary to consider some things as settled
and certain. Among these, one Of prima.
ny importance is, tha, paper circulation
exists n the country, and that there is not
the least probability Of its ceasiag TO exist.
The States possess the power Of creating
banks Of circulation they exercise this
power; many Of them derive not unimpor.
~
of them even have established banks, of
which they are themselves propretors.--
No uan can reasonably expect TO see the
day when they will relnqulsh this power,
or refrain FROM its exercise.
10 The next place, experience has con.
frmcd The truth, beyond the possibility of
doub! or question, that paper OF State banks
canno, be Of universal circulation and cred.
il; there never has been, and there is not
now, any one State bank whose notes pass
readily, from baod to hand, Us equivalent TO
specie, over all parts of the country. Ma.
ny of these local institutions are perfectly
sound, ere well administered, and their
credi, in their own ueighborhood entirely
; good and unquestioned. But, from the We.
~ nature Of things, their credit is and must
be local only. Ii can never be universal.
!, The People are acquainted With the ins,i.
tutions of their own respective States, and
generally understand the ground of the
Z Claims Of such institutions TO confidence
4 ard respect. They pay attention also to
I whatever is established by the General
Government, because they have an lnieres.
in the laws which il passes. But the PEG.
pie. that is TO say, the great mass of produc.
tive carriers Of one State, cannot, generally
speaking, be acquainted with the moneyed
institutions Of other and distant States. In
most cases, they do not even know such in.
stituious BY name. How, then, can they
give their confidence? We sec they do
not give il, even where it NIGH, be most
safsly bestowed. They prefer the paper
of their Own banks, though they know il to
be deprecated, to the paper of other banks,
: because they have confidence 10 the instItu-
ton Of their own State, and because they
know the amount of depreciation on the pa.
! per Of such banks, whereas of the value of
a note Of distant bank they are wholly ig.
Dorani. But this knowledge, which the
ssss, brokers and money dealers do, and
they use it skilfully to their own advantage.
A farmer of Virginia will hesitate to re.
ceive in payment New York note. He
viii prefer Virginia paper, although be
knows il is not equivalent TO specie, be.
cause he can form some opinion of its val.
ue, while Of the New York note he knows
nothing. But the holder of the New York
note, al The same time, is able TO dispose Of
il at the FIRST brokers' Office at a large pre-.
MUM.
Every man in tho habit of observing
, what passes around him must see every
! day the existence of this state of things;
and lis inevitable consequence is, TO throw
the loss Of depreciation on the ,aborious
, and productive classes. Wherever bad pa.
per circulates, il is the industrious and the
hard working who suffer first, and suffer
longest, and suffer most. But i, is not 10.
tended 10 pursue this part of the subjec, fur
Their than to illustrate and confirm the truth,
tina, no State bank, founded on whatever
capital, administered by whatever degree
of fidelity and skill, can obtain that familiar
character, and that established and we'll.
known credit, which shall give lis bills cir
cuatlon through all classes, in any amoun,s,
and in all parts Of the country.
Nov, another most important truth,
equally we'll settled by experience. is, that
paper issued for circulation, under the au-
thori,y or with the sanction of the Govern
men, Of the United States, does acquire and
retain this advantage Of known and unques.
toned character and universal confidence.
No matter whether the note or bill present
) itself in Maryland or Missouri, Maine or
Georgia, if it promise paymen. in specie.
on demand, aud that promise be supposed
to be- guaranteed by the character and cred
it of the Government, it springs immediate.
ly to value equivalent to specie The
impress of the National Government, con.
nected with the fact of Its immediate con.
} vertbility, stamps the paper with mark