Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1841-1853, 1843-07-11


employment. in parts Of the Unicn that instances
have not been uncquent of working merelY for te
neans Of subsistence II the wages OF labor here and IN
Europe compared they will be found no, TO be essen
TALLY different.
This is Henry Clay's description OF the
times of 1871; seven or eight ycars-bear
that in mind. pray YOU -SEN ZEN or
EIGHT years after the United States Bank
was in existence. II might serve for PIC
turc Of the times. at this day. And yet,
Henry Clays friends hope TO persuade Us. IN
the face of such evidence rs that. that nothing
has prevented them from fulfilling all their
promises of high wages and good timcs-two
dollars n day and roast beef = but John
Tylcr's veto of their Bank bill. II they had
but obtained bank. they are certain. quite
certain. every thing would have been right;
it was all Tylcr's fault, We may rest assured
of that.
Do they think we have neither eyes nor
mcmoriesl Have they forgotten that the re-
cords of the nation are open as we'll to us as
TO thcml Some of us remember those times
very well. Those who do not, have Henry
Claws and IIczckiah Nilcss word for it. that
some two or three years after the Bank be-
can TO loan out its millions to one man and
half a million to another. the Western country
saw harder times than the oldest citizens ever
remembered: and that even seven or eight
wears after this political panacca was pre-
scribed and administered. the farmers grain
was pcrishing in barn and yard for lack OF a
market. the laborcr's wages were five TO eight
dollars a month. and property had fallen
within Il few years TO half It's value. we
were selling. then as now. our pork for a cent
or Il cent and Il half pound, and our corn
for eight or ten cents bu,hcl.
am not arguing that all the distress was
produced by the United States Bank. That
does not follow. | only say that such distress
actually did prevail for many years after that
institution was chartered. II the Bank did
not cause this distress. it is evident. n least.
Mqt II did no' present Il.
If the party who lay the hard times al
Tvlcrs door still stand out. even against
such lessons from IIczckiah Niles and Henry
Clay. they shall have Nicholas Biddlc-oncc
thc favoritc and leader of their party, though
lately fallen into bankruptcy and disgrace
they shall have thc testimony OF Nicholas
Biddlc. in addition. Biddlc. then Prcsidcn
of the United States Bank. published in the
National Gazette of April l0th. 1873. NJ
essay on the cause OF distress which even a
that time. four Years after Henry Clay spok'
of Il. was felt over the United States. Speak
ino Of the embarrassed situation of thc coun
, try. he comes TO this conclusions
Ats disorder is over-tradng. brought on by r'i'
ing. The remedy l., to bank less and to trade less
Now. if that was 4 truth in 1923. has it be
come a falschood in 1913! Are hard time
in this country indeed brought on by Owe
bankingl Is the true remedy TO bank less
What sort of a cure for the evil, then, woul'
it be. to charter another Bank. just like that
which. in 1917. loaned out It's million to on
man. It's half million to another. and let yer,
BOYS have their twcnticS. thirtics. and iltt'
, thousands When we increase the cause. d'
! VIC lessen the effect! That is rather singu
{ lar sort of logic.
Shall we be told Chat though tic Banl
was so shamcfuly managed in 1917. ii NIGH
have done much better. if Tyler had given
4 chance in 1922 But what reason hay
we to suppose that! Alter the scandaiou
> scenes that followed the breaking up OF tn
/ United States Bank of Pennsylvania. and tn
recent official disclosures touching the do'c'
e rieht bribery which it employed with men
d bcrs of the Pennsylvania Legislature, wha
o encouragement have we to trust either tn
= honesty or the prudence OF such mammot
e moncycd institutions!
There are other reasons winch 1T Is uSu;
lie to give. why n United States Bank should b
= chartered. One is, to regulate the oth'
- banks: but the experience OF the last tw
a. years has proved pretty conclusivcly. tn
y they regulate them selves. without any aid
70 URGE them over the precipicc; and even
they did not. srho is 10 regulate The regulator
Then again such a bank is supposed nccc
= sarv 10 bring and keep down the exchange
l. but the exchanges also have already fallen
their own accord. rs low, or nearly as 10y
10 rs they were in the very best days OF the o
!. Bank: and for many years after that Bar
: was chartered. the exchanges were In utt
~ confusion: il did rot regulate them. FINAL
the discounts it might have afforded may
considered necessary TO fill up the void in Il
b :" currency made by the broken banks tn
to have lately gone down: but that void Is II
er ing up. without any bank bill assistance; Il
receipts. IN cold and siiver. mt the port of Ne
al. Orleans alone. from 1t September. lol2,
Ell lst April, lSi3.-in seven months-wcrc or
for srren millions tour hundred thousand dollar
IN. that is, a the rate of more than 4 milf
Nv OF dollarr amo nth.
la To effect these objects. United Stat
ar Bank is not necessary, if It were ciicicI
ian and not efficient. if it were necessary. y
ieb have We, from experience. a single reason
conclude. that a United States Bank won
at in any ether way. have permanently improv
f.. the times. if no obstacle whatever had be
no. placed in the way of its charter. The trr
we is. the times arc to be improved by indust
al. not by speculation. True wealth is produce
not by printing and signing bank bills.