New-York daily tribune., 1844-02-17
For The Tribune.
Bank PAPER, or the Circulating Medium.

tutes the CIRCULATING MEDIUM of the United
States, and Of what does it consist
l assume that it consists OF Bank paper, and
of nothing else and for the simple reason that
there Is no other MEDIUM that crculates.
Com, or money, is in no sense medium OF ex-
change; but when paid, the actual giving of real
property for a consideration.
When half eagle is given for barrel of -four
no medium is made use OF, but one description of
property,is is By the transaction given for another
It's Just as much matter Of barter or exchange,
as giving barrel of flour for ton of coal is. A
medium implies something midway between, in
the transaction
person who purchases ton Of coal, and gives
his check on the Bank for the amount, makes use
of medium in payment-the check is the
medium by which the transfer of money to the
amount specified. is made by the purchaser to the
seller Of the article
a bill OF exchange is the medium by which an
individual living in New York, makes transfer
OF property IN London, or at some other foreign
place.
a deed is the medium by which a house and
lot is conveyed to the purchaser.
4 transfer on the books of an incorporation is
the medium by which the capital stock of the In.
stitution passes from one individual to another.
The Potash Inspectors bill of Inspection, is
the medium by which the barrels of ashes speci-
fled in it, are transferred from one individual to
another without removing them in the ware
house. But none of these mediums circulate
because they do not possess the necessary re-
quisites.
Bank bills arc the medium by which the spe-
Gle, specified in them, is transferred from one
individual to another and by which it may pass
to thousand individuals without counting and
without being once Withdrawn from the Bank.
a thousand dollar note may pass through one
hundred hands during the day, and each holder
of it be as actually in possession of the money
on deposit, as if in his own house.
Without such facilities the thousand dollars
must necessarily be counted at each transfer, by
The payer, and by the receiver, and were this in
all cases done, there are not clerks enough in
Wall. TO make and receive the payments
of some days transactions at the Custom House.
Banks are description of warehouse, for the
storage Of specie, the deposit of notes, stocks and
other securities, and are uniformly used in the
United States and when judcously managed
are the safest repositories for this description Of
property, and afford facilities, indispensable to
wel-organized state of civil society, and are Ia
bor-saving to an incalulable extent.
The fact that they arc the repositories of mo-
nev and the lenders Of it brings the whole COM
munity, in their immediate nelghborhood, in con-
tact with them thus rendering them uniformly
known, and the community from the nature of
these transactions bestow on the Banks their con-
fldencc for this reason, Bank paper passes from
hand to hand, and being uniformly known, from
medium Of transfer (Which check is ony) it
becomes a medium phich circulateS, and is for
this reason called 1.-THE CIRCULATING MEDIUM
taking its name from the Office it performs.
By the use of Bank paper the quantity of spe-
Gle for the transaction of business IS much re-
duced and the wear of coins, which is consldera-
BILE, avoided Losses to the community in trans
portation, and by fire, are to great extent pre-
vented the loss of bill by water may damage
the individual possessed of it to the amount; but
the specie specified in the bill remains safe in the
institution by which it which was issued.
The question has frequently been asked within
the last few years, how a Bank can be safe that
issues three hundred thousand dollars of bills,
when she has but one hundred thousand dollars
of specie in her vaults and as often affirmed,
that if the bills were all presented at once she
must inevitably fail. This is unquestionably true
But is there the least probability or possibility of
such an event A certain amount of specie for
every days transaction is required by every Bank
and this amount is known with as much certainty
as the quantity of Croton water required for the
daily consumption of the city is known; and
there is the same danger of the Reservoir failing
in the one case as the other. The water runslnto
the Reservoir on one side and runs out at the
other, as the money is paid in by one set ol men
at the Bank and paid out to another. Banking
and exchanges are governed by laws-as liked
and certain as those that govern the tides, or as
the laws of gravitation they may be lmpeded IN
their operation by the acts Of communities, or by
Legislative enactments-so may the Croton Wa
terworks fail to supply the city with water, be-
cause the high dam on the Croton river has been
DESTROYED or the Croton Aqueduct broken up
Under such circumstances, the Reservoir must
necessarily fall but the mistaken enactments OF
legislators or the acts of vicious men, or the mis-
taken policy Of individuals, cannot be urged
against the utility of the work; neither can they
be urged against the utility Of well regulated
Banking institutions.
If all the Banks were to be simultaneously