The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-06-03


n.n.teh sent to them Tor any length oftime by 'eas
;or their orders at the Office
RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS.
In some sort this heading Is appropriate
for notice of the advent OF the Smah Note
law Of the last Legislature. The great in.
fux Of gold Of 1850, unsettled the relative va
lues of gold and silver, and the disturbance
WIN. all the greater by the help of MIR. BEN
ros's gold bin, which increased the alloy of
the cold coin of the L. s. Silver rose in
y.lue. or rather gold declined, and silver was
q, a premium, that caused it Immediately to
be bought up and shipped abroad until it
seemed to he nearly all gathered up and sent
out of the country This occasioned great
embarrassment in the retail operations OF
The country; and there was no way of OBJ
tanning relief. The Banks were not allow
ed by the Legislature to issue small notes.
That silver which they reluctantly part
ed with. never returned to their vaults, until
giving out and not receiving any, drained
their Golfers nearly to the bottom. They
were then forced to cease paying out silver
altogether. =
It was then that the demand for change
opened the way for the introduction of small
paper money, and so great became the de-
mand for that kind of money, that in the be
ginning, the sources of supply were made
quate to meet it. But these were soon
strengthened by additional Rag mills, as
they were in popular parlance styled, and the
amount of small notes that was at one time
shoat, is now absolutely astonishing. 1t was
not to be wondered at, that among the great
list of Banks in effigy engaged in the making
of paper money, there should have been a
number projected with fraudulentsintentio
that wound up in general swindle; ana
that some, beginning with good Intentions
should have been swamped by bad manage
ment, and resulted in severe loss to the pup
lic But it is at the same time fact, thai
some were managed well and with fidelity
and honor that reflect the highest credit upon
their overs They certainly are entitled to
the public respect, if not the public graft
tude.
But taking all things into the account, we
do not believe there has been any thing lost
TO the public The facility afforded by these
small notes during the complete withdrawal
of silver from the retail departments of com
MERGE, kept business agoing, and effected
collections, whereas, without them, there
would have been serious embarrassment
Thus the advantages derived from this
novelpaper money, more than compensated
for all the losses sustained by it.
The further adulteration of American silver
under the late law of Congress taking away
the inducements to ship it abroad, has caused
that description of coin to appear again III
the every Gay affairs Of life, and the quantity
in daily use has been steadily increasing for
some months so that the people are better
off now with specie change than they have
been since ls49-'50, and are therefore bet
ter prepared for the withdrawal of the small
notes-individual and Bank-than at any
time within that period. The United States
Government has intimated a disposition to
aid in increasing the supply of coin, and has
sent several lots for this purpose to this city
To what extent the people may thus be sup
piled, remains to be seem but we have 10
idea that the process of the substitution of
specie for those small notes will, in the be-
ginning at least, be unattended with diff
entity.
How far the Banks may go in aiding the
rcyOlution-in assisting the operation of the
small note law, also remains to be seen.-
Several members of the Committee on Banks
stated in their places in the last Legislature,
that they were authorised by the Presidents
Of the principal Banks in this city to say
that the Banks did not desire to issue notes
Of a less denomination than So; and they in
timated that they could afford liberal aid in
cooperating to promote the withdrawal of
small notes from circulation. They stated
that the compulsion to redeem ten per ceatum
OF their Issues in SHrcr, would not embarrass
them. The new charters, in which it was
proposed, with their consent, to Incorporate
TINS provision, didn0t pass. Nevertheless, it
Is incumbent upon the Banks in good faith to
extend the same aid to the State law, which
1t was proposed under the new charters to
extend, since their declining a small note
law, and their proposition of the ten per
centum redemption in silver, were the main
arguments not only IN defeating q lar 10
authorize The issue Of small notes but il,
securing the passage Of the lar for tie suD
preston Of small notes. They should come
boldly up to the scratch and help the people
iu their effort to get rid of small notes.
The people of this city are earnestly re-
solved to sustain the law, and go on with
their business if they can. We are disposed
to believe the thing may be done. The
greatest difficulty is presented by the notes
Of the Banks of North Carolina. The peo-
pie of that State are separated from lis by
oaly an imaginary line-they conduct the
most intimate commerce with us-and how
are we to refuse their Bank Notes the
notes OF Banks that are amongst the most
solvent in the Union The new law does
not punish man fer 'eceiciag notes; but
only for Offering. This is to allow our mer.