Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1854-12-22
BANKS AND BANKING.

oahk paper We circuthunS fncuiuHi "
the country. and minated that wears
Opposed 10 II, as even partial medi'
um, except upon conditions that have
never yet been tried. We are mo-
surprised that such position should
create some talk and much opposition
We knew IL would From the earl.
est history Of our country, paper cur
rency hasbeen in vogue. and 1t appears
Hike radicalism TO advise its discontin.
uance Nevertheless. we win contin.
ue our objections, and let the candid
reader Judge Of their force. go g
One Of the first answers to our OBJ
Ijections. was, as we had anticipated
that the abandonment Of paper cur
rency. would not leave money enough
70 carry on the business Of the coun-
TRY, and that il would be better to en-
dure the evils alluded TO. and all 9th.
ers, than to encounter the stagnation
Of business that would follow the
adoption Of specie circulation, or q
bankcirculationp purely on aspecie basis.
This argument in favor Of bank paper,
is coevil with banking. And. after
all. this is The chief, IL not The only
reason why banks are toIerated-to
Increase the amount of money, and
consequently theprices Of al articles
in commerce.
To cease using such a currency
would manifcstly lessen the amount OF
money. and. consequently cheaper all
articles Of trade. But 10 say that
there would not be enough money to
carry on The business OF the country,
is to imply that boat or car or a
wagon that costs half the present
price would be less capacious than at
present, or that farm when selling at
ten dollars an acre, would produce
less than the same fssm would, rated
Mt twenty dollars. To us il appears
plain, that IL one dollar will buy as
much Of any thing as two dollars can,
IL is just as valuable. and that when
prices are just half as high as they
are now, one thousand dollars will
"carry on" just as much trade as two
thousand can now. Where then, is
the difference, whether articles be
cheap or dear, II every thing rises or
falls in proportion ?.
Our principal objection to our pres
ent system of banking is, that il makes
money too plenty, and, consequently,
too cheap. We admit that. il we had
no intercourse with other nations; il
would not matter, whether the nomi-
nal value of hundred weight of pork
were three dollars or twelve dollars, il
If other articles Were priced accord
ingly. But when We have TO deal with
other nations which have no inflated
currency, and in which the price ol
labor and of provisions are at a stand
and adapted to a specie circulation, il
does make difference, and il is this
difference that brings bankruptcy on
our country, every ten or fifteen years,
and that will continue TO do so as long
as we make paper money our curren,
cy. and send off our specie TO be the
currency of other lands.
4 Let us illustrate how this inflated
currency operates against us, and why
i produces, in u short time, sucl
results as we now feel. Let us sup.
pose that silk merchant arrives n
New York with $4,000 yards of silk
Suppose the lowest price he can AFFORD
IL at,is one dollar.per yard. ofcours,
his cargo comes to $50, 900. lie
this take place when pork is Sc pei
hundred in Cincinnati. and about 81
per barrel in New York. When pay
ment is to be made, the New Yorl
merchant says to his Liverpool friens
that he has fine lot Of pork al 81
per barrel which he would like TO ex
change for his silk. To this the sill
man replies. that he would rather hay,
! money as pork is but SIC per barre
in Liverpool. and Of course he can no
afford TO ship it for one dollar. In tn
beginning of good times the Ne,
York man replies that il makes no dil
ference, as polk is a cash article. II
would just as soon pay cash. and h
pays in the paper Of a New Yor
Bank. AS this would be at disconn
in Liverpool. the merchant calls fc
the gold, and departs. Another cal
go is paid for in the same way. an
another shipment Of gold. is made
Let US follow this silk westward.
, Indiana. if you please. Times AT
: good, pork is high, and the wester