The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, 1850-03-05

proper provision for the. punctual payment Of the
interest, and for the Ultimate payment of the r.n-
cipal.
3. By the llth Section the President and Drec-
tors are required to keep all account Of the profits
to arise from this Loan; and these profits are
pledged for the payment ofthe interest and princi-
pal Of the Loan
4. By the 18th Section it is provided, that when
the profits of the Bank shall have paid the public
debt, both principal and interest, for which they
are already pledged, the said profts shall also be
considered pledged for payment the interest and
principal of said Loan
Now, in all these pledges, so far as they relate
to the Bank, they are entirely confined to its profits
These are distinctly pledged, and 80 are the faith
and funds of the State. The pledge then embra-
ces these two subjects, and these only. The faith
and funds of the State embrace all Its resources as
we'll those in The Bank as those in the Railroad
Company and the Bank Of ofCllarleston; and all ar
gument might as well be predicated in behalf of
the charters of these Institutions as Of the Bank of
the State. And if these pledges operate to pre-
vent the State from changing its money invest
mens, then the State has already broken her faith
at this very Session, in transferring to the new
Railroad Companies the money she owned in the
South Carolina Railroad Company. And yet the
friends ofthe Bank saw no difficulties there.
The other subject of the pledge offers even less
real difficulty. The pledge made is of the profits
fthe Bank. What are these! The money which
the Bank will make during the period OF its exist
ence. Could any one mistake what this meant,
when the duration ofits existence was before them
in the Statute Book! viii gentlemen say, that
General McDutfie concealed from the persons with
whom he was dealing that the Bank Charter ex-
pired in 1856! and when they were taking pledge
of the profits Of the Bank, do gentlemen propose
TO persuade us that the English Creditor never i'll
quired how long these profits were to continue
AS well might they undertake to persuade us that
creditor, TO whom leasehod estate was offered
by way OF mortgage, would not inquire how long
the lease had to rum
The whole difficulty will vanishb BY merely chang
ing the phrase. Suppose Company engaged in
partnership, which by articles was to continue
for five years, should pledge the profits to arise
from the partnership as security TO pay debt
which was not due for ten years! Wodld any
one contend that this created obligation to con-
tinue the partnership for ten years, or that any
thing more than the profits for five years was
pledged! When the partnership should expire,
then provision would have to be made to secure
the assets of the partnership, with the profits ac-
crued for the benefit ofthe creditor. But not the
smallest obligation would exist to continue the
partnership.
So with the Bank; when the term Of its charter
profits then accrued, with sufficient amount OF
the funds of the State, to secure the payment OF
the debt principal and interest," as it becomes due.
But there is not the slightest obligation to continue
the charter Of the Bank, or to keep the funds in
any form Of investment which the State may not
| deem most beneficial
But to insist, as the friends of the Bank do, that
the funds shall be kept in an institution, which, by
its own showing, is not making the annual inleres,
which has to be paid while it puts at hazard the
principal ITSELF seems to be taking course as i'll
furious to the creditor as to the State itself The
best thing a debtor can do for his creditor, is to
pay his debt; the next best is to improve his
means Of payment We propose to do either OF
these which the creditor may prefer. The last
thing to which we could consent would be i'll any
manner to tarnish the honor ofthe State.
| 2. The next objection which Ishall notice is that
We are destroying the Bank of the Planters.
| think it has already been shown that this is
the Bank of the Directors, and certainly they are
not the Planters. But would be well to show the
people of the State how completely fallacious is
this nd capldndum argument, and how few Planters
are really accommodated by this Bank five
knew the number of the debtors of the Bank, We
could arrive at certainty. But we can approxi-
mate results. Setting down the amount loaned
the Directors and Officers of the Bank at $S50OOO,
and the amount loaned the Commercial communi-
ty at about the same, there would remain about
$4,000 900 to be loaned Planters Now, We have
it in one of the Statements OF the Bank that Of this
last sum SO debtors had out $592556, making all
average of S6,733 each. Now, if the whole of the
money loaned TO Planters were loaned at an aver
age as low as $4,000, it would only accommodate
400 Planters in the whole State. And if the aver
age of loans were reduced down to as low figure
as s 900, the whole number ofPlanters who would
be accommodated, including the SO above named,
would amount to about 1888 at one time in the
whole State, or about SO TO each District. A
mighty figure, indeed, upon which to predicate the
name of the Peoples Bank, or the Planters Bank.
3. But another objection most strenuously urged
is, that this is moi the proper time to commence
] any measures looking to the termination OF the
Bank, and that We ought to wait until the charter
expires.
The answer to this objection is, that the sooner
measures are commenced, the greater can be the
period of time over which they may be distributed,
and the less likely to harass the Debtors derange
the business arrangements of the country. If the
debts to be called in are distributed over the eight
years the charter which remain, only instalments
of one-eghth need be called in upon good debts,
and the measure would be one ofrelief instead of
pressure The business arrangements of the
country would easily accommodate themselves to
this gradual and gentle change, and no one would
suffer. So, too, in any difficulties that may arise,
time could be extended according to circumstances,
and the State would sooner be relieved from all