Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1842-02-19

dence and fear that ihfee suSpcns'oh'' ~ 'ie
Of five years have created d'7uus. III "he 'o y,
those who can afford 10 keep money unemployed, ."'y
no inclined 10 hoard tic they NAY withdraw from
he banks until they afe convinced ny experiment. '""'
specie payments vii BE- pcrnans nuy continued
The Indebtedness 81 the country TO the Towns IN
v;;,;, and of ,hnse towns 10 the Northern cities u
an gre,t tina, premature attempt !. resume may pros
trae the banks, without any adequate oehsn ~ '"e
community. -, , .;a az
some Of our well Informed tchais, the indebtedness
of The country 10 e ely Of Richmond alone, is q. least
tai in the country ourlnerchans compelled to re,
sor, 10 the aid oil lie banks 10 enable them 10 carry on
,her commercial transactions, and to meet their ell.
oo,an,s :, the Northern cites, As the agricultural
nc ,be country brought TO market, many oil
The country debts are qudaed, and by the exports oil
those products the Naytern debts are discharged IN
uho,o or in mari, Besides without the facilities gwen
by the banks 10 some Inc Shipping metcnun.s a,o
manufacturers from the time oil purchase, until The
ernor,s become available, they cannot, IN many cases
nav fair price for country produce, or carry on eif
business with advantage. II, therefore, wonid seem
| to be impo,c to attempt resumption OF specie pay
until after the expectation OF the crop OF tobacco
now beginning 10 CONT " A'ai"e'' ""' VI IVA ss
crop Of wheat
Even then il will require grea, abscmousness in The
use n facion articles Of consumption during The year.
and a considerable dimmuion Of The discounts OF the
!
prepared for heagy peeunlary pressure The present
crop Of tobacco our great staple although abundant
is thought by those bestquaed 10 Judge. vii! not yield
10 the State as much the previous crop by million
and baf or Two millions of dollars. II should be re-
collected oo that about half Of cur Stale debt has been
within few disposed Of broad ana then served
az resource pro tano. b that now instead o. RECEIVING
we have 10 pay for thcintcrest.
In ,ero,d IN reduction of The discounts Of The
banks use the language Of Mr. Ga!at'n, strong re-
sumptions,: "The Legislature does not and cannot De
aware how slow and gradual The dim'nuon oil discounts
must be, in order that universal distress may not en-
sCe. $50
Tender as the subject IS, must say that should be
reoiced 10 sec such dminuton, by the slowesl pac-
tcabe process, persisted until the balance OF lraae
shall be in favor Of Virginia, or at least become eqnai
lied.
ia commenced can see no security for the permanent
CIV of specie payments nasmuch as the balances must
constantly be discharged specie So long as we buy
more in value abroad than SELL we cannot MAINTAIN
specie payments with circulation of two or three dol
lars in paper for coin, when Massachusetts, from
her economical habits and well directed industry, can
keep up circulation Of paper with perfect safely OF
eight for one, simply because she sells more tian sue
bCys and her people satisfied with their paper cur
rency for domestic purposes.
While on this point, avail myself of the privilege
accorded TIE 9th n;erogatoy to hazard tie remark
that bad the general policy u, an Congress shai
reduce Ike standard of silver The fractional parts OF
dollars to prevent exPortali" ana sha cause ah
abundant sply Of such CON- II will be almost neces.
sary that tie use Of small notes should be continued
after the resumption OF specie payments, taking care
that such coin sha be legal tender only tor payments
under ten dollars In n. York and IN New England
small notes are in common without complaint on
the part of hose most concerned
| Answer &c The seventh Question
| The answkr is embraced essentially in the foregoing
remarks.
Answer d the eighth Question
If we had system Of independent hanks IN the IN
terror insie OF branch banks, Il would perhaps be oet-
ter that arraspemen;s should be made between them
and the banks at the great commercial points tor the
REDEMPTION Of the notes Of the Interior banks because
when the latter failed 10 supply The funds TO reheem
their notes. the others would refuse to receive then,
but with the system Of branch banks where the notes
of all the departing ndiscrimna.ey made re.
ceyabe in payment Of debts, snch plan would be al
most inooeIatiyc The statement Of the amounts oil
specie and circulation a, the different periods OF sus-
pension has ready been furnished the committee by
his hank Respectfully submitted.
JOHN BRCCKENBROUGH, PreSt.
To JOEL HoLLEMAs, ESQ.
Chairman of the Committee on Banks.
TrEspaY NIGHT, 9Th Feb 1912.
Daar S;r~Haviny been engaged with the Board OF
Directors your letter of this date did not reach me be-
fare clock and instead Of formal answer 10 the ques-
lion contained in it. beg leave TO adopt the form OF
letter in reply.
that Cl answers 10 tue lucstobs Pio'
pounded by the committee were not satisfactory LUIS
think may Justly be attributed to the nature OF some
of the questions which do not appear to me to be sns-
ceutibe OF definite answers. ltwoud ave beeen some
thing like dogna,ica IN ME TO reply WITH con-
sd.nca IN that q hich ma pend on circumstances that
NAV varvsys,v week rht be as reasonable 10 sup
pose that the officers of an army hould lay down rules
Of action conduct difficult CO aign before they were
aware of the movements OF The nemy, rs that the OH.
GERS of bank III lhe presen. cr of,he monetary and
banking aia's country Ha undertake t, eG PRO,
may under all distances be eccssary TO commence
and ,aaintain yA pa mrnts THAT slow and con-
,nued dinnntcn-of tiseonats requisite 10 mat eno'
have already sad and feel ensured OF II, but can
no, hazard an opinion 10 The qaanium, the periods,
or The mode of making that d,minution AS 10 the
ouaniu we must ascertain VIA. reduction our custom
era can bear or We weaken rather than Strength
en- the institution 10 the periods that must DE-
on the coming 10 value Of the crops, and the
means ofthe country to pay the debts 10 inc 'o"n aha
No to the mode We must be regulated By the capablity
Of The dfare, classes of debtors-n ordinary times
il is the reaoest way to reduce discounts by rejecting
business per- but when That Is carried TO any extent,
il embarras trade and causes decline IN The prices
or our agrc ai,ura products 6y giving all The advan-
taoe to the great capitalize, the moderate dealers
A reduction of the accol notation paper is the most
desirable bu, that is slo in its operation, or we soon
create more suspended d i, and incur the heavy es-
penses of multitude or lawsuits. Much then mus,
W D''sS'S'o 49,
these points.
Froa tie Isl February, lS4l TO the 9Th April follow
ing, when the banks in Richmond persisted in specie
pay mens, nfcr Baltimore and Philadelphia had srs-
pended again the Bank of Virginia Il mean The parent
bank) reduced its circulation upwards Of fourth
that is from $3.50 9l7 1888 o96, and the consequence
was, that the norton which not brought in, ceased
TO he acncrri circulation, and used only for the
purpose Of drawing specie, while the notes which were
not convertible, took ill., place in circulation OF the
convertible notes. tht~ well established principle in
political economy, that fo calculations unequal value
fanno. ex!s, together that abor,vc cfor, Of Two
months m3na pec' one s. our stock 81 c2n
other in.s cquiysen o%pccic 10 make up the differ
ence This fact shews tht when resumption does take
place il he by general cooperation Of all The
BANKS IL ibis and the adaeent States we shall lie In
undated with circulation Of inferior quality.
! Itwoala afford greg pleasure 10 give The Commit
tee precise information OH all qceaons OF fact, hut on
those which deem not susceptible oil dehne answers'
off, hIplI - trD