Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1854-08-24
Irnr.xA FnEr R.rrs-

INDIANA FREE BAsKs.-As there
some excitement in Cincinnati, and 9th
er plac.s. about the Indiana banks, W
copy An article on she subject. from tn
Commercial. There is considerabl
money Of this sort in this community
and, as our business men and bank
have been paying 1t out, they shoul
adoPt,the course recommended to th
Cincinnati banks. aad not refuse 10 tax
it as long as the banks remain good:
The excitement in regard to the In
diana stock banks, became quite gener
al. to-day, and some of our bankers re
fused to take the notes of all thes
banks; the Trust Company refused al
except the Bank of Connersville; tn
New York and Virginia Bank at Evans
vile; the Brookville bank, at Brook
vile, and the Wayne county bank a
Mshmond, whilst Messrs. Ellis So
Sturgis refuse none except, we be'aTse'
the Rensselaer, and Peru banF~ ne
movement, as might be ve5' rsssona-
bly expected. has prodpyso ress e1. x
element in the commp;ity a. iArge' as
these notes have b.-n kept moving so
rapidlv lately. tat hardly any person
.sp :: found ,Iio does not hold great
o. ~ . I.ss1mount of them. 1t there
fore homes our duty to give our
roads all the information in regard to
thrai we can
Money dealers and the greater por-
ton Of the business community are, we
presume, perfectly conversant with the
law under which this free banking busi-
ness is done, as well as the manner in
which the note holders are secured; u
but, we at the same time. feel satisfied
that there is large portion of the COM
munity who know little or nothing
about the matter, and who consequently
may be induced to part with the notes
of these banks which they may hold
foolishly. under the impression these
are similar to the bank features in 184l.
The principal feature in the free bank
ing law in Indiana is, that all the notes
issued by any bank doing business En-
der it, shall be signed by the Auditor
of State, and that State or United
States stock shall be deposited with the
Auditor, amply Sarticlent to secure the
payment of all notes which he may
sion. so tnat each one of these Indiana
Stat stock banks, has on deposite with
the Auditor of State, stocks equal in
amount to their entire circulation, and
should any one or all of those banks
fail to redeem their issue, it becomes the
duty of the Auditor of State to dispose
Of the stocks deposited with him, and
redeem the notes with the proceeds
This all looks fair and safe, for SO far,
but there are some other matters and
connected with the sys-
tenn which make 1t less satisfactory. A
mistake was made in framing the law.
by permitting the stockholders to in
crease their capital to an indefinite
after they had commenced bust
ness, no restriction was placed upon
Them in this respect and the conse
quence is that adventures from the
eastern cities, have taken the advantage
Of the stupidity of the Indiana Legis-
lators, and abused the privileges confer
red by financing in such a manner that
with bona fde capital of City or one
hundred thousand dollars, they manage
TO issue one, two, three, and even as
high as four hundred thousand dollars,
IN this manner after the Company is
formed. With the capital first paid in.
stocks would be purchased, and an
equivalent amount in notes obtained for
them from the State Auditor, with
these notes another amount of stocks
would be purchased and a new batch of
notes obtained for them, and so on un-
til the company might conclude it was
discreet TO stop.
Now that this has been done to a
greater or less extent by all of those
banks, is not denied, but they say sure,
are not all the notes we issue amply Sc
cured? Very true, we answer, but
should "run" commence on all of
those banks who have been thus Ski
ting" can they redeem their circulation
with gold or silver? The mass of the
people feel perfectly satisfied they can
not, and that they will have to 90 into
There is another evil which
the public will have to bear in the latter
case, namely: A person holding ten,
twenty or fifty dollars of these notes,
cannot or does not want to wait upon
the Auditor with them three months
hence for redemption but will sell them
to broker at whatever discount may
be fixed upon them, and it is in this man.
ner the mechanic and laboring man is
There is another question
arising in this connection; is it fair or
just that banking houses who have been
aiding in the circulation of this paper,
until they have placed some of it in the
hands of every poor laboring man,
should suddenly stop receiving the pa
per when they very well know it is Just
as secure now as it was a month ago?-
We understand, however, meeting of
our leading bankers will be held to-mor-
row for the purpose of making some ar
rangements in regard to the matter, and
the best conclusion they could arrive at,
we presume, is to take all the notes at
saw or I r11r cant- enl so.1 H.