Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1850-03-29

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Report ofMe Special Joint Comnittee on
tie part ofhhe Senate appointed to sc-
anime Tie Braach Bank Of he STATE,
at ColumJja; $. q.
(CoNCLUDED
1t might be contcnded that these large sums
were allowed to remain in the hands of the
present borrowers for want of application for it
from others; but such is not the fact, for the
President of the Bank himself informed the
Committee, that there werc ten applications
refused where one was granted for want of
means to accommodates 1t has been contend
ed that i'll granting loans the Bank should. in
determining the amount, be governed by the
property or means to pay of the applicant.
This we take to be very erroneous and short
sighted view of the rule; to say nothing of the
letter and spirit of the charter. A single indi.
,yidual may have wealth enough to give ample
security for the whole circulation of the Banl;
and yet it will hardly be contendcd that n
hank established expressly to accommodate
the people in tme Of pressure, should lend all
its funds to one man or n few men Such
however, would be the legitimate result of the
principle advanced The very object in croa
ting Banks isnot to accommodate large capital
lists, but those of small means Wealthy men
have money without borrowing and it is the
surplus capital Of the wealthy mon which they
are not able to invest proftably otherwise that
make up the Banks, or is put in Banks to be
loaned to those that have small means and
good credit Illc idea of taxing people to raise
funds to create Bank to, loan money to veal
thy men, never entered into the hands of those
that chartered the Bank. The conclusion,
therefore, seems to be irresistable that if the
peoples money must be put in Bank, it should
be loaned in small sums; by that means doing
the greatest good to the greatest number. If
we are told that more money is made for the
f91atc:oy loaning large amounts. and the prma-
fry object OF the Bank is to make money don't
stop Banking, but apply the money to all sorts
fspeculations; purchase cotton, negroes, mer-
chandlse ani enter into full competition with
private enterprise The moment the
State stops beyond the mere collection
ofltaxes sufficient to carry on the govern
ment, and pay the money to the money
to the public servants who discharge the
duties, there is no stopping place, and
she has as much right, ard it is as much
her duty to make money in the various
waysit is made by individuals as by ban
king. BY reference to Exhibit A. it will
be seen that the loans have been very
unequally distributed among the differ
ent districts. A single district has half
a million Of dollars, whilst some have
comparativclynone. We are aware that
the districts of Richland and Fairfield
being so near to the bank would be more
likely to nuke apple cation for money
than districts some distance off, and that
in consequence of the town of Columbia
being In Richland, more money would be
needed than in any other district If,
however, the bank had applications from
other districts, and that they had there
can be no doubt, the Directors sbould
have complied with the acquisitions of
the charter; at all events there should
not have been so great an inequality. BY
classifying the debtors by districts, and
aihxl'g the occupation of each to his
name, we found that the planters in Rich
mond owed the bank in round numbers
$l7o,0oo, This Is nearly four times as
much as ahy other district, except Fair.
field, received, and was certainly notneed
ed forcommercial purposes. This does
not include the amount due on bonds.
which would swell the amount to over
$780, 0,0cO, a large portion of which has
beenin the samo hands for years. The
rest ofthe Richland loen is in the hands
ofmcrchants, physcians, lawyers, &c.
It's generally supposed that the planter
IS benefited by the loanrto merchants.
such is sometimes the case when, bv being
enabled to borrow money, he makes ad,
vances to his customers or gives them a
better price for their produce; with re-
gard to- Richland, comparatively small
portion of the3loans are to factors an /
cotton buyers; che debts are mostly what
maybe termed stationary debts, though
the amount is sometimes changed, neon
tradistinction TO those frequently contiac-
ted and paid at short intervals If, how
ever, the planter is benefited, it is to a
very small extent; for the amount loaned