The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1854-05-11
rar ooNpIrIoN oF rnE nANKs.

During the time in which the great controversy
ed on respecting the Bank Of the United States the House
Of Representatives passed resolution requiring the Sec
rotary OF the Treasury to lay before them them and
ally thereafter statement or the condition Of the banks
throughout the Union
Il Is strange that such resolution had not hore been
adopted Every hueuaon in paper currency changes the
market value Of every mans propery and without bank
returns these rises and falls inexpieabe So much inn
porance Is in Great Britain attached to this branch Of in
rmation that weekly statements published of tho
condition of the Bank Of England and quarterly state
ments Of the circulation Of all the banks in the United
Kingdom
While the democrats have been in power the resolution
az Congress above referred has been attended TO- When
The wings have been in power has been attended to or
not as suited their whms their convenience The last
pubhed report was made under Mr. Fillmores admins
ration in 1882 but the materials Of which il
nosed were such as for the part should have
aued the report for 1851 The report for the present
wear has been delayed through the additional labor inn
noed on the department by the resolution of the Senate
calling for statement OF the amount of American stocks
ana bonds held in foreign countries On Wednesday the
report was the House. and we shall as quickly as
We can lay before readers the most important table
it contains
To-day we give "a Comparative View of the Condition
oy the Banks in the different States in ls5o-5l and
1s5a54n BY scanning it, the reader win learn in what
aeoree the banks in the different States have extended
their operations in the last three years,
The summing up is given in the tables which have
vet to publish To-day we will content ourself with
stating that the total of circulation according to
nearest to January 1854 two hundred and four mil
lions and of depostes hundred and eighty eight mil
lions making total of credits of three hundred
and ninety-two millions.
As the total Of circulation the st of January 1887
when the imitation of 1851 its height, was
less than one hundred and fifty millions the present
amount Of paper circulation may alarming but II is
not so if make due allowance for the difference in the
condition of the country at these two periods.
Omitting other considerations 10 which shall advert
hereafter the banks return fifty millions in specie to
which probably several millions should be added that
included under the very indefinite head Of specie funds
In addition to this, there the lst of January
thanks to the system) twenty-five
millions in gold and silver in the treasury Offices and
more gold and silver in circulation among the people than
at any previous period.
Every man who knows anything about banking knows
that it by the modicum specie in the vaults but by
the whole of specie in the country that the banks
are sustained in their operations
These bank returns are indication of the
monetary condition of the country the thermometer is
of the state OF the weather They are far from being all
that wanted to form Judgment of the prospects OF
the farmer merchant and manufacturer but essential
they that neither merchant banker statesman can
without them to satisfactory conclusion on many
points which must necessarily engage their attention
The of the banks for the present year such
ought mako bankers and merchants very cautious
but such conceive ought to occasion alarm.