Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1844-10-22
POLITICAL,
(Etcn. The Democratic Rerie.r Of Ancua)
ONE NATIONAL BANk-SHALL WE
TRY ANOTHER}

IK1 ANU HEN
This is the mos, important practical question
10 bc settled by the approaching election. y Ne"
Bank. call il by what name You ~lli-ieSuid'oi,
fiscal machine, uniform national currency, Oh any
,her that will best express the cherished ldea but
cy,da The obnoxious wor,-a new BANK Is undo
niablv the grea. measure oil me " Hi9 pait!' an"
mar creeiicact Of MIR. Clay.
The repeal Of the Sub-Treasury bill, ana 'fle
.incorporation of Bank adapted 10 the wants
of the people and OF the Government were inc
first Two measures laid down by Mr.. Clay ior me
adon,ion of The Wing Congress OF lSl0. Inc
Bank charter was passed shorn, II is true, oil
some OF its more sisniilcan; characteristics, 20
meet the supposed scruplcs OF Mr. lyicr; ana was
vetoed. even in its emaScu!aled >lale, WAeh WI
TYLER found il was Bank still, not less ms
chievous. because it was mulilaieo. a Dana -
AGAIN brough; before the people; and lest there
should he any doubt what a Bank IS, Mr. Clay
has pointcd 10 the late Bank oi the United States,
unaiaed. uDal,ered uHsoened in all It's collt's-
sal yoor and dimensions, as the lnodei.' w nat
dbl that Bank do? Did il give energy and iirnl-
ness To our moral tonel Did il give ease and
uniformity To our monetary SYSTEMS Did IL ne
vote itself 10 the wants of the business community,
steadily averting lis eye from the tuIino;iS VI 'ne
political world7 What it did then, 1t WI 90
again: and il i, should appear that II polluted 'he
system. and that it completed lis mission by cor
rumion as extensive as ii was devastng, then II
INNS, be plain-plain. il but small portion oil
lis early vicor remains 10 this young ana great
R,public. rather should we desire our rivers
10 drr up and our forests to wither, than We should
suck once more into orr vitalS poison so Suotle
ami potent. The object Of this paper Is TO IN
auire. as briefly as the subject will allow, what
the Bank did
FIRST for our business morality;
Seconalp, for our commercial stability;
INiraln for our political purity.
l. WHAT THE BANK DID FOR orR BUSINESS
MORALITY.
The opening of the bank books, in 1917, threw
into market already screwed up and co>livc
ihifiv-five millions OF stock To- BE- sold. how wa"
II 10 be paid lorl Through the vice OF us CON
stitution much more than from the corruption OIL
it> managers. plan was hit upon that apparent
" disposed OF The stock, without damaging The
purchaser As soon as the actual capitalists had
raid in their first inStalmenlS, the doors were
ihrongci with spectators, who scrambled up
holding in their hands certificates OF stock when
,hey had purchased and for which they cou!i
no, pay. On the 2G,h of August, 1917, when The
market price of the stock was Sill, resolution
was squeezed through the board, authorizing DIS
counts on stock, TO be valued al Sl25 share
Al once the line was formed. The Spectator
whose pockets last night were empty, would
march up this morning 10 The Bank, with the GER
tilicale of transfer in his hani--some'imes With
ON, it-clairn the discount of Sl23 pr share, pay
The first insiameni, and watch the tide TIL rise
took place in the market, when he would sell ou',
hur in 4 new lot, borrow money on the purchase
and wait for another lrcshet. Duec;orS-ceiiain-
IL amajoriiy of then-brokels without number,
Spectators of every breed-enieyed into The game.
with all, the object was 10 ruii ont the sock;
and every day during change might he seen the
Urea, BODY of the stockholders either i'll person or
bv proxy. emploYcd at the job OF blowing ont
and swelling the dimensions OF the hollow little
bubbles that were in multiludes tossed oil upon
the world.
In January, 1918, ;:ll,2i,5li had been dis
counted upon the hypolhccaliOn ot stock The
Ban. had sold about one-half lis capital to jonG
6de holders, and had sold the other hail 10 pur-
rhascrS, who paid for i, with the same funds
which had paid for the first. But was not such
wholesale gambling fa,a 10 the integrity OF the
business community 7 Did not the richness and
hea, OF the new elemen,s spawn into life myr-
ads o. new specuiations, each exceeding its pre-
.!eccssols in shallowncss end imposurc Such,
in fact. was he result; and such, in future, will
be The result whenever thirty millions OF dollars
are pied up, under the charge oil human Wis
dom and subjected 10 the assaults vi human APP
petite.
|, is scarcely worth while to perch for a mo-
incnl upon the proxy-dividing stratagem oil 1918,
though in itself straw that indicates too painful
" The current Of the morality the new interests
had called into action. Ry the first fundamental
article of the charter no person, co-partncrship,
nr body polite was Ia bc entitled 10 more than
thirty votes; and yet, ii appeared on the evidence
before the III, e,,i3atin@ committee, o! which Mr..
.Iohn G. Spencer was Chairman, that il was a
common and general practice, well known 10 the
Ridges oil the election and 10 the directors, TO d
vide shares into small parcels, varying from one
Ia twenty shares 10 name, held in the names OF
persons who had no interest in them, and 10 vote
upon the shares thus hell as attorneys for the
pretended proprietors. In Baltimore alone, con-
spiclops for the looscness with which the branch
there situated was conducted, a Mr. George Will
hams one Of the chief actors, presented himself
rs The. attorney for Ire shares, bought in ll72
names.
Mr. Jones the first President of the Bank, at
one time an amiabc and respectable man. with
considerable prc,cESions but meagre parts, soon
broke down under the SeducionS Of his office and
Hung himself ready victim, into the arms oi
those who pressed forward 10 prostitute him to
their desires. Blu, Mr.. Jones had moi the >agacity
10 conceal his iTai!ty; and amazed The world by
showing them in how short period middle
aged business man, who has gone halt through
life with proud front and fair colorS, may be
led away by the charms and temptations OF bank
ing Mr.. Cheyes. who followed him. belonged
Id that rare class OF men who do not even parey
with temptation; and Mr.. Cheves, therefore, was
the most unsuitable man in the world 10 satisfy
the schemes of the spectators who had then The
upper hand He reduced the dividends 10 their
lSt dimensions, and AT once the proxy-dirlders
and the ceriicatc-pledsers were IN an uproar-.
After bringing the Bank TO convalescence, he re-
signed. leading the way for an administration
which, py its mastery boidncss, lis brilliant
cpochs. its splendid imposi,ions made more aw-
tnl the calamies which it eventually produced
"For the information of those not convcrsant
with the portion of the business OF The Bank re-
f.rrcd 10 by Mr. Biddle," said Mr.. Lippincott, 4
respectable and aged merchant of Philadelphia,
the Chairman for many years OF the Dividend
Committee. in speech made by him al meet
inc Of The stockholders on the 4th OF MAY, 1911,
Il will state that these reports (lhe reports OF the
important committees) were always previously
prepared By the officers of the Bank, (and as now
appears rcry adfdly, and Nth great circnmspcc-
tim, and being neatly copied by clerk, IN the
Bank. were handed to the Dividend Committee,
tor their examination and comparison, and nnme-
rous documents accompanying them. These re-
ports were also usually compared with the gene
raj ledger, and if found To correspond herewith
also, (Which was always the case,) were signed
hy the Chairman of the committee, and present
cd 10 the board Such being The course pursued
at the Bank, it would be absurd 10 attempt 10
rack back through lis chartered existence the
abuses which were displayed at the explosion of
1919. /, was then that the dealings OF the insii-
tuition were for the first time, opened to the pub
lie eve. The veil was suddenly lifted, and the
secret things of The temple brought 10 light. By
The statement of the investigating committee
april 8, 1919 it appeared thai on The active
debt, on December 81, 1870 were loans 10 seven
Incorporated or other companies OF Sl2ll ,l63 in
GLIDING one of 500, 2a22 10 The Wilmington Rail
road. The sum of S7i0,056 was on obligations
having at least months 10 run; and oil this sum
s597 ,023 had more than y months to run Nine
Sin May, 1888, Mr. Clay declared his willing
ness, were it practicable, ITO adopt The existing
Bank, (that under the Pennsylvania charter as