Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-04-01
saKKs AND sasElSa.

II not less, of barking ttsn they do. ItwOuld b.
fortupste for he o2le, though sadly uuiortu'
ra:e for the banks. if the public were more en-
iightened on the sebject. The former ignorsnte
Of the people in tbs particular has not been f;om
any fault Of theiTstheir continued ignorance shall
rot be from any fault OF ours. We are trying to
lsara for the purpose Of impsrting information to
them on this subject, and are nOs without hope
tbst before the meeting Of another Legislature we
shall have learned something more than we knew
when we had the horor to hold seat in the
popular branch Of that body during its last session
It was the opinion of financial men Sc far back
as Gen. JAcEsoE's struggle with the banks, that
the less the people knew about them, the better
for the banks-the more the people knew about
them, the better for the people. That opinion
prevails to this day.
Whenever sn institution of this kind has been
chartered BY the peoples representatives, careful
proyisions have been inserted requiring them to
make public, st ated periods, every thing con
corning their operations and condition that is de-
sirabIe for the public to know. And, yet, when
made these reports have been so involved in mys
,ery and inexplicuble figures thst but little more
conld be understood than Just such information as
the hanks were milling the public should have
We hazard nothing in saying that there IS not
svsn hank officer il the State that can deciPher
some things in the report of the Bank oil Tennes'
sss for January. outside Of that institution. Yet
the neonls have persisted through their represen-
ts,iges in requiring more ard more OF these lnsu.
buttons. with the view of better knowledge Of
their operations. But the more the people insist,
the more the banks resist
For instance, the last Legislature, after having
spept thousands of dollars in the vaa sndsavor to
learn something of the condition Of our banks,
psssed e An Act to Regulate Banking" The first
section provides that it shall be the duty Of every
hank in tbs State to make ssmi-annusl return on
the 6rst Monday in July and January of eseha
wear. "of the names of oil its stockholders, the
amount Of stock owned by each individual or
company, the amount Of money actually paid into
the funds of each Bank on each share respectively
and the amount of the discounts of each bank.
And each bank shall include in its semi-snnusl
return. such other statements IS are required
of the Free Banks, by the llth section of the
act Of 1852, oh Il3, entitled An Act to
authorize and regulate the business Of banking,
passed y Feb 1882, '0hieh return shall Be verified
by the affidavit of the President and Cashier Of
the Bank
Tie ID section reads as follows:
at shall be the duty of every Branch Bank IN
this State to make out and forward to the Governor
returp a, REQUIRED in the foregoing section, sspar-
h. If ha M0fhaF
Rank (which return shall be verif ID by affidavit
and caused to he published by the Governor for the
information of the peOple-the State Bank alone
being exempted from this provision
Now what must the public think when inform
ed that the Union, Planters and oths. banks, to
whom. the foregoing applies, have treated the law
with utter d sregsTd and positively refused to COM
DIV with its requirement to give such information
of the condition of their branches to the people2
The question Immediately suggests itself, a0hy DO
they refuse, at the risk of heavy penalty Are
thew afraid to let the people know what their
branches are doing and how they are being con-
Quoted, or is there something rotten in their trans
actions, that would SUBJECT them to greater cen
sure if exposed This seems to he the rational
conclusion; for men VINO know the law, do not vio-
late it without ress0n.
But this is not the only effort the people have
made, through their representatives, to provide
security against the Banks. At the same session
of the legislature an additional act was passed. to
regulate banking, the 3lse of which reads as
follows:
That should the bonds of this State, or any
other bonds authorised to be used for the purpose
of Banking decline and remain below par IN the
CITY of New York, for thirty days as shown blythe
sales of the stock board in that city, it shall be
the duty of the Comptroller, Bni be Is hereby au-
thor z.d and directed to retain the interest which
has or may accrue on such bonds ss are deposited
with him, until an additional amount OF bonds are
deposited, as will fully make good the par value OF
such bonds.
Section 4td makes it the duty of the Comptrol-
Ter to "givs notice to ell such banks ss have de-
posted said deprecated bonds, ard upon their re-
fusal to make the required additional depOsite Of
bonds, or return and surrender an amount Of theiF
circulating notes colntersigned by the ComP!rol-
er equal to the depreciation on said bonds, with
in sixty days, to take charge of the assets Of said
bank or banks, ard wind it or them up
Now the people will be ready to ask themselves,
what is the use of law on the subject Of banking
when informed that the Comptroller has as COM
pleteIy ignored these provisions as if there was
no such law on the statute book; and again they
will be ready to enquire, ,Ohy should public officer
wilully disregard the law, and fail to obtain that
security for the people which was intended aud de-
manded
We have another instance at hand, which strikes
US with still greater establishment. The 4th art
of the Oh sec Of he Charter of the Bank of Ten
nessee, expressly provides, that said Bank or
either of said branches, never shall purchase aud
have running to maturity, or on hand, greater
amount Of bills Of exchange than the amount Of notes
under discount This provision was based upon
the idea that money making should be but inciden-
tai to the main purposes Of the bank, and that it
Leading object was to provide sound and well reg
ulated currency, aud afford relief TO the great in-
dustrisl interests Of the people. The present able
and worthy President had concluded at the meet
ing of the last legislature that the original purpo.
ses OF the bank had failed, and that in future it
should be regarded as financial project to aid the
Treasury of the State" That is, to make money.
Consequently Col Johnson recommended in bis
report, that the restriction in the ninth section of
the charter, limiting the purchase Of bills to the
amount of discounted notes. should be repealed, -
in order that the bank might deal in more pr0tiq.
be paper. We we'll reno mber that the suggestion
met with no favor at al in the legislature The
peoples representatives. did not believe that it was