The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1854-11-29
The state Bnnk OF Ohio.

: entire, and ask for it a careful perusal. The
: communication is as follows:
81 regret that those who have noticed the
articles on the State Bank of Ohio, which
appeared in your paper of the 18th inst,
should not only have attributed unjust mo-
tves TO the writer, but have launched forth
into invective against the State Stock Banks
of Ohio. twas neither my wish nor my
intention, in writing the communication in
question, to create feeling for or against
any system of banking; the statement made
vas simply one Of facts and figures, leaving
those who thought it worth perusal to draw
their own conclusions. | thought that COM
ment was unnecessary, because the expe-
rience Of the people Of Ohio, should have
taught them that circulation secured only
BY moral honesty, known probity, fair prom.
ises and all that sort of thing, is wonderfully
subject to depreciation. know that if his
tory could be forgotten, and the memories Of
1887 pass away, people might be brought TO
believe that banks as general thing are re-
liable. But it is against the exceptions that
| wish to guard; for this reason asked your
columns; and ii advocates OF consolidated
system of banking should imagine that there
was no necessity for telling the truth during
"these times of pecuniary embarrassment, .
see no reason why one utterly opposed to
their policy should refrain from pointing out
its unsoundncss and endeavoring to show
that it is mere matter of time as to when
this unsoundness will be made manifest
Sooner or later crash will come, and then
those who are now asking for few more
days, Of grace, will retire with well filled pur-
ses to appear as soon as their evil deeds are
forgotten, prepared to expand and collapse
again.
Scores of those who are now kindly fur
nishng the community with a circulating
medium, assisted in blowing the bubble of
1887, and when it burst, pouring food of
bankruptcy and ruin upon the country, prov
ing the facts that when banks are most need
ed they are most useless, they avoided the
current, and with heartless indifference view
ed the misery and ruin they had brought upon
all who had confided in them.
The gentlemen who have taken upon
themselves the task of defending the State
Bank, base their reasoning, first upon the hy-
pothesis that it is impossible for all the
branches to fail; and, secondly, that (in the
words Of "Conservative'D "just in proportion
as the notes are more secure, in the same
ratio are the depositors less safe;" otherwise,
reasoning analogously, the depositors will
be compelled to bear the fleeing in any
event. have nothing to say to this last
proposition, except that depositors them
, selves might have some objection to this sum-
mary disposal of their interests, and the re-
Election might suggest itself, that robbing one
class Of citizens to pay another would be
very poor way to convince a community of
the value Of that "moral honesty" on which
"Conservative'' proposes to base q circula-
ton.
With regard to the safety of the State
Branches, reiterate what I before said
The following figures will probably be re-
ceiyed as sufficient evidence of the truth of
what l say:
Circulation of State Bank S6,a7s, ,Osg 90
Due depostor bankers, DC 3,035524 81
Bllis payable 1851 G5
Safety Fund due Board of Control 4I,3lO G5
y Sundr! Liabilities 337, ,l29 l2
| Total Liabilities TO public, exclusive of
about S5,C0O,0G0 due stockholders slO6sG6l4 40
| Against this they have positively valuable
assets, that is, specie and Safety Fund, to
the amount of $2,262 1868 l2. How much
of this specie is generally found in the vaults
after suspension, O. is shown by the exhibit
Of the lately hourshing, but now defunct
Mechanics and Traders Branch of Cincin-
natl. As to the other assets, believe that
the commercial records of the past forty
years will bear me out in saying that large
proportion of the class which Banks include
in their statements as s'netes and bills dis
counted" are found to be, in the event of q
universal failure, totally unavailable. While
the expansion is going on and money mat.
ters "easy,'' this paper currency may be han.
died with comparative safety-that is, il
would most probably be redeemed if pre-.
sentcd at the counter from which it was is.
sued in small quantities; but so soon as cri
sis approaches, then is it unsafe, and, as the
hour of dissolution may come at any mo
ment, none are protected, unless gifted with
an omniscience which few mortals pretend
10.
And now, one word in relation to State
Stock Bank paper and its legality as tax
paying medium. By reference to the sec
tions of S'oan your correspondent points out
you will find that public officers, bankers, &c
are only prohibited from paying out, loanins
or exchanging unauthorized bank paper; but
are permitted to receive it for the purpose Of
returning it for redemption. am unwilling
to believe that the forced construction placed
upon the law to which Conservative refers
is the result of deliberate intention to mis-
=, lead his readers, but he certainly has misrep
resented both the letter and the spirit of tn,
law, and should his Interpretation be the cor
rect one,..it at once prohibits the circulation
! of all notes of those branches II, on whicl