The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1845-03-21
WHOLE NO. 2I3.


But such pledge is 10 part of the def
milton of the Supreme Court. Oh!-but-
says some fat, greasy Bank nabob, those
ale notes not issued by the State! they are
issued by the State Bank! and therefore arc
not bills of credit! Shades of Locke, jeff
erson and John Jones-what discovery
They are not bills of credit because they
are issued by a company! And that CON-
pany derived an exclusive privilege 10 emit
a paper medium, for the purpose of common
circulation, from the State of Ohio! and she
agrees, in consideration for the same, TO
plunder the good people of Ohio, annually
to the tune of few mlion5l And this is
a transaction which, according 10 the horn
book of federalism, is shielded by the sacred
wgis Of the law--protected by the hallowed
mantle Of public faith from subsequent c-
gislation shut up, like the hidden mama
of the heart, from that clause of the Consti
tuition which deprives the States of the right
to impair the obligation of contracts! A
contract! What is a contract? Let Chief
Justice Blackstone answer this question: ga
contract" says he, " is an agreement between
two or more persons TO do or not TO do, par-
ticular thing" The persons contracting
here are the State, and the companies crea-
ted under the law. The thing performed
on the part of the State is the confering of
the exclusive power upon the companies in
corporated 10 emit a pepper medium for the
common purpose of circulation; and the con-
sderation paid for that exclusive privilege is
the emission of the paper medium. TO con-
stitute a contract three things are necessary:
The parties must be cabable of contract
ing;
The thing to be done must be a legal one;
and
The consideration must be valuable.
The thing which the Slate agrees TO do,
is 70 confer the power 10 emit paper medi-
um for circulation. Has she any such pow
.er 10 confer? If she has, can she not exer-
isesitsin any other way just as legitimately
as TO confer ii upon Bankers? If she has
not the power 10 emit the bill, can she con-
feritupep others? If she issues the paper
hersalf She issues bills of credit, which arc
prohibited by the organic law. If she pre-
tend TO confeTgi upon Others, she emits bills
of credit through the instrumcntality of. the
agents upon whom she conlcrs the power, and
equally commits an infraction of the Const-
tuion. If she, in her proper person, has
not the power 10 issue the paper, she GER
tainly cannot confer that of which she is not
possessed, and the agreement 10 do SO is in
opposition to THE organic law of the land, and
this essential part of the contract fails. The
position that the State can confer upon COM
panies powers of which she is deprived, re-
minds us Of the father of lies, who, we area
told in the good book, on certain occasion,
took our Savior up into an exceeding high
and showing him the kingdoms of
the world, told him that he would bestow it
all upon him if he would fall down and wor-.
ship him; when, at the very same time, the y
old rascal was not the owner Of foot of
land in the world. The Banks derive their
authority from the State government. If
the State possess no such power, the Banks
cannot derive it from her; and the emission
of their paper medium is hgh-handed
Of right denied TO the States by
the federal Constitution. The Banks them
selves are public nuisancos, created in dero-
CATION Of the paramount law of the land,
against the public policy, public tranquility,
and public welfare, and should be abatcd the
same as any measure that posons the atnos-
phere which we breathe, the water which we
drink, or obstructs us in the performance of
our everyday business. But the position
that the emission of paper medium by
banks, under the authority derived from the
State, and under the supervision of the Slate
and amenable to the laws of the
State, for an abuse Of the powcr reposcd in
them, is not substantially an emission of
paper medium by the State for the purpose
of common circ1lation, is really too absurd 10
admit of further relutation. The State acts
only by agents The banks must be consi-
1cred as the simple agents of The State, with
authority as such agents TO furnish the peo-
pie paper medium of circulation. Or in
other words, to banish the currency of the
Constitution, and substitute therefor worth
ess and illegal currency of bills of credit
Banks were originally designed, not as the
makers or circulators Of paper medium,
out as places of dcposite, safe keeping, and
easy transfer of coins. When they after
wards commenced the business of discount
ng and loaning, they still did their business
n coins; and for a long time this. kind of
banking was carried on possibly 10 the advan-
age of those amongst whom It was csta-
'lished. Banks then were the balees and
enders OF real money. II remained for the
harpers of modern times TO peryert their de-
ign, and convert them into overgrown bor-
overs and bIokers-generally bankrupts for
hundreds of thousands, sometimes for mill
ons, of money borrowed from the duped and
onfldng people, and yet 5oas,ing the repu-
alton of great public benefactors.
The history of banking in the United