The Charlotte journal. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1835-1851, 1842-03-24
NUMBER rs.
From the Fayetteville Observer.
MR. MENRY,s BETTER.


remarks in his letter on the same subject,
that we wish to notice.
He says that in 1894, after falling 10 get
re charter from Congress, "the Bank,
desperately crippled Nth debt, in fac, rem
dered BANKRUPT by lis own wicked policy,
fell back upon the Legislature for char
ter, for The purpose Of keeping is ccpi!ct
:, together, and preparing for another onset"
This is something Of JuH,-the being
bankrupt" al the same time thu, II was
"keeping its capital together" But i; is
worse than BUILT Us not true, that the
Bank was bankrupt in 1914, and it is doubt.
fol whether there is another man Of ordlna.
| ~ information in the United States who
I would commit himself TO an assertion so
notoriously incorrect. The Bank was uD-
doubiedly in high state of prosperity at
,ha! time, and up 10 1896 for upon a thor.
oush investigation Of lis affairs 1t was found,
at the expiration Of its charter IN $40, that
every share Of its stock which cos, 500,
was worth, over and above all lis liabilities,
Sll7, and it actually paid The government,
that price for the 10000 shares it held.in
the Bank, on the dissolution of the partner.
ship in March 1886. The clear profit
which the U. s. thus received from the
Bank was 81 100000. The Bank was RI.
ined after it became State Institution, by
paying five millions for its State Charter,
perhaps half a million more in brides to the
Locotoco members Of the Legislature, and
then by lending on, its money all over the
country, TO States, corporations and ind.
viduals, many, many Of whom, by the re.
verse of the times, have been disabled from
repayIng il.
OF the conclusions TO which MIR. Henry's
apocryphal history OF the Bank leads him,
we shall only mention two, not because tho
others are justified by the facts, but because
our readers will probably be tired Of the
subject. Mr. Henry says
"lst, That it 1.-THE Bank never did fur.
nIsh uniform currency Of fixed value
ID, That il never did regulate the eychang.
es on the contrary that it deransed both,
during the twenty years of lis charter, save
about the years $50, 81 aud 80, when it
was dispensing iavors TO purchase re.
charter"
Now every body knows, that from almost
, the first day Of It's existence 10 1886, a note
, Of the L. s. Bank would pass current at
par or at the smallest fraction Of discount,
in any part of the United States, from
Maine 10 Louisiana. 1t is known, alsD,
that they we're RENTED instead of specie,
! TO England, France, and even to China.
/ 1t IS equally true, that from 1928, (and
, ~ ,bo
were SO regulated and equaizcd, tina.
Bank check from any part of the country
where Bank existed, upon any other part,
where another Branch was located, could
be had, and millions we're had, at from ! 10
Of per cent, that is, for % or so cents,
/ the Bank would transmit; 500 from Maine
Z 10 Louisiana, or any other part Of the coun.
4 Try. This equalization existed years before
the Bank was an applicant for re,charter,
and continued four years after lis recharter
was refused, and was not confined 10 the
years 1881. ? 3, as Mr.. Henry asserts.
MIR. Henry asserts that the Bank, be.
tween the summer Of 1882 and The procur-
iug OF its new charter, had " contracted i'm
mense debts in Europe" This also is not
true. |, is matter Of history, that these
immense debts we're contracted subsequent
" 10 its re charter in 1896. Every state.
men, Of the condition Of the Bank up to
Sept. /, 1885, 1.-THE latest we have been able
to lay our hands on,) shows balance due
TO the Bank in Europe, varying from near
two millions TO near four millions. II ~
well known, that Up TO 1886, the Bank reg
ularly kept fund in Europe upon which it
could draw checks.
| He next charges the Bank with "getting
up wild spirit OF speculation in the public
lands" &C., with stimulating the States
aud corporations to visionary schemes of
internal improvement" And here all the
Lawyers tact is employed to hide the true
cause Of all this speculation, and these
schemes. He carefully conceals the fact,
that Wills, tho U. s. Bank had capital
under the State of only % millions, which
was very nearly all invested before its re.
charter, and therefore that its means Of ex-
tending new facilities to spectators and
corporations vas very limited, the States,
from 1880 TO 1887, actually more than
doubled the number of Banks, quadrupled
the amount of Bank Capital, and nearly
1 trebed the circulation Of paper money, and
the loans and discounts. The following is
| from the official Statement. of the Secretary
/ Of the Treasury -
In No of Capital circaia- Lsaas.
Banks. non
1880 800 ll5. a,a6s g., 323.S9s 900, Ash ,eH
1887 7O9 $50, az, OIL LAG, ls5,s90 5,1l5,705
This is the true case Of the expansion of
which Mr.. Henry complains, and which no
unjus,ly charges altogether to the U. States
Bank, by prac,icing that concealment"
against which he pledged himself The
veto Of the u. S. Bank in 1882, deprived
it of its power to regulate the currency;
capitalists in the States thought they saw
| glorious opportunity tor Investing; they
every where importuned the Legislatures
for new banks, to take the place of t.s ex.