Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1850-02-22
what are the Evils Of Banking,

We were saying that those who dis
card banking on the ground of the un-
righteous and enormous profits of the
operation, do :hereby,if they succeed, call
in and encourage and support a system
Of swindling by money -shavers, as they
are termed, which is, TO say the least, as
extortionary as the worst system of ban
king which the country has ever known.
And then, the charm of the operation is,
that the stuff on which interest is paid,
at the rate of from so to rs per cent, is
bank paper after ALL and bank paper the
Recommendation of which is, that it is
put in circulation by other and different
States. These paper promises are a
bominable, when they ale given out by
those near to us; but they are jus. as good
as the specie, when they are given out
by those living Thousand miles away.
We have observed that paper money,
when it can be had, will buy farms, build
houses, shops, mills, and the like; will
command labor, pay debts, procure food
and clothing, and do whatever else could
be done with gold and silver employed
for like purposes. "But hold on there" "
they tell US, "does not Government re-
fuse these paper promises at the Land
Office and at the Custom House?"--
Well, let us see. Government refuses
the paper of New England and New
York Banks: but government paper, such
as treasury drafts, treasury notes. land
warrants, &C., are good at the govern
ment offices: And all these can be bought
and often at large discount, for the con-
traband bank paper. Again, we often
see merchants and business men yolunta-
! rily, and of their own offer, exchanging
specie a; rar for bank paper. So that
the paper which the land Office rejects =,
only half dozen doors from the land OF
flee, exchanged, without discount, for
government paper or specie either. We
have been present at land sales, more
than once or twice, where a thousand
dollars of such paper as the land office
utterly refused, would command on the
spot, exactly ten hundred dollars. either
of specie or of government paper. And
if there are sufficient grounds for this, at
Western land office, much more could
such an operation be effected at Gus
tom house in an Eastern city. The
most violent declaimers against banks as
swindling Institutions, and against bank
paper, as abominable trash, never fail 10
show decided preference for 500 Of
current bank paper over 500 of gold or
silver, unless for special purposes abroad.
But do we not know that paper is
cheap, and when it can be put in circula-
ton as money, may be issuedip any
quantity! Yes, we know that; and we
know too, that farmer or merchant,
or lumber dealer, can get paper about
as cheap as banking institution; and can
issue il in business way, they choose,
for variety of purposes. Blu: they are
very apt to mind little what amounts,
in drafts, orders, due bills, &C., they have
issued, and when and where they are to
be drawn. A farmer or blacksmith
might issue negotiable notes, perhaps to
ten times the amount of his whole prop
erty. But he would be very unlikely TO
do SO, so long as he chooses to have Ell
,her property, or reputation for trust
worlhiness, among his acquaintances.--
Banking institutions may be employed
for swindling purposes in the way OF
banking frauds. In multitude OF in
stances this has been the case. But do
not mercantile and mechanic firms be-
come insolvent! Let any man, who has
had thirty years experience in business,
sit down and recollect the total amount
of his losses by insolvent and dishones'
debtors, and compare them with the to-
tai amount of his losses, bv broken, OF
partially insolvent banks. Let any one
do this, and he will be amazed TO see
how lriiling part, comparatively, oil the
total amount of his losses, in the busl-
ness transactions ofthirty years, has been
occasioned by worthless, or partially
worthless bank paper. An example in
point, will set this matter in a strong light
We are informed by Albert Gallaiin, in
his treatise on currency and banking
that the losses to bill holders, from the
failure of Massachusetts banks closing
twenty years previous to the year 1880
(the time when the treatise was written,
had been less than two mills on the dol
lar, yearly, Of the aggregate banking cap