The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1845-09-23
TIE SEVENTEEN p UEs OF OHIO.


THE SEVENTEEN PLAQUES OF OHIO.
There are ten branches Of the State Bank and
seven ofthe Independent Banks ncwin operation.
--Wtig paper.
Seventeen fortresses Of mammon! seventeen
strong holds Of despotism! are added to those in
our midst, to control the prices Of the farmera
produce and the fruits Of the mechanics labor.
Money represents the bread for which we toll tho
houses and lands from which we derive shelter
and sustenance the clothing which we wear, and
the books which teach our children, instruct and
amusefhe ripestsgc. II moves the wkeelsoftho
wagon that carries our goods to market, and decks
the elegant carriage in which our families are
driven to church. In every situation it controls,
directs, upholds or confounds--if gives that for
which labor and industry tolls; and ,he dweller
in cities, whose home is in foul allies and damp
cellars, finds that the very air Of heaven is not
free to him who has it not. 5a n.i.sair
| And the control of this mighty power---ths
more than archimedeaulever is too generallygiven
20 men, whom sordid avarico has made rich, whom
| base vlainy has made capitalists whom heart
iessness % all the sympathies of benevolence and
generous feeling has made misers of their god;->
and these men nre our rulers; The despots ofrhe
iron age had some noble characterstics-even the
base demagogue will affect''a virtue if he haveit
not" but instead Of giving the guidance Of our
free institutions into the hands Of intellect and
integrity, the whig party have chosen for worse
than the King Log of the fable, the serpent King
of'a dissolute banking system that is singing to
death all that is noble, pure, and free in re-
| publican system, 80
These seventeen institutions are, it is alleged.
instituted for the purpose of supplying Ohio with
a currency, or in other words standard of value.
But has paper money the quality essential to con-
stitu,e standard? A standard should not be
liable to huctuation, its value should at all times
and places be equal. That this is true Of gold
and silver, or nearly so, is admitted fact, but
that it is never true of paper currency is equal
| ly fact. Tried by comparison with the pre-
cious metals, it is false measure or Standard
At one time it is plenty, ut another scarce; not
only by the fluctuations of trade, but by the fuc-
tons of speculation. l, is as if yard stick to
measure goods were made of india rubber and
shortened stretched out at the will of the shop
keeper. At one time the yard would measure
two feet, another three, four perhaps and
the public would never receive equal justice
Exactly so with paper money, as compared with
gold and silver; 1t FIRST excludes specie and be.
comes its substitute. Bankers can then increase
or lessen its quantity at their will and at one time
property of the value of $l00 can from the scar.
city of money be bought for 500, and at another
time it will require $l50 paper dollars to buy ii.
And all this isat the will of the banker; managed
for his benefit, and effected for his aggrandizc.
ment. rta ~ ~ at f#2 sF .sa
These seventeen banks are not required to have
gold and silver for more than SIS of every $l0o
of circulation, and sight drafts are by the 55th
section of Kelly's Bank law, made gold and sill
yer. So that destitute Of the first mill Of specie
, these shaving shops are allowed to commence
business. Is there man Of sense in the state,
believes that they will survive the first fluctuation,
founded as they are in such utter disregard Of all
financial rules? 0&
Ohio State Stocks upon the security of which,
the indivdual liability clauses in the charters Of
: the banks Of Wooster, Sandpsky, Norwak,
, &c, were repealed, are an uncertain dependence
for the 70 per cent. whicn they may represent
They are now nominally at from 95 to GO, but may
soon change their value Hundreds Of thousands Of
dollars. have been sold at 40 per cent. discount
since 1910; and they would be liable TO still great
n depression if suddenly forced into market, to
any great amount, by the failure of any number
Of these beautiful currency making institutions.
= Besides it is not very good policy to involve tho
credit of the state, with that if SO very frail an
! Iinsitution as Bank. .i j
4 This pernicious law is well calculated to meet
E the necessities of those who want banks 1t is
provided in the twenty third section that the di-
liable for fve-sixths of the whole stock of the
: Bank. If the discounts were intended for tho
/ benefit of the people generally, this, perhaps,
/ would have been thought rather too large share
, Of the public plunder to be divided among bank i.
ers. But Kelley & Go. have very few sympathies
in common with such valgur matters as the inter-
ests Of farmers and mechanics a}
Not TO enlarge, there are seventeen more whie
. arguments in the field corrupting and to corrupt
! effcminacy is on the increase; uristocracy has
strengthened her hands, dishonesty is seventeen
: times more popular, and the only sufferers wilr
. prove to be the people and our republican SYSTEM
MEXICAN News 10 the 30dl ult. Gen. Ar
ista is at Matamoras wish 1000 men, and
knows Of Gen. Taylor's position Gen. A.
has 2000 men now under his command. No
: fighting has yet taken place, nor have we
! now any confidence that there will. To the
d able and decided course of President Polk
! in concentrating troops at the point where
! war menaced us, we will owe it that no war
y nccllrs ,lhe -,rhi1r journals ,rhich ha u1r On