Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-10-28

tanning al the once1s ana managers 81 these 4,eSo
banks, with the incidental charges Of the same -
Why, at IS, 900 each. and that is moderate clcu-
laiion, it Fon be 81. l94, 900 per annam.
The subject might be followed OUT still more eK-
tensvely, If il were necessary, aud limits per-
mitted.
g. THAT this country has prOspered under a
mixed currency in q higher degree than any other,
and this currency BY making money more plenty,
has been the cause Of this extraordinary prosper
ity."
Henry Lee, ESQ Of Boston, in his eletters ad
dressed cotton manufacturers" written some years
since, exposes the falaey Of this reasoning in for
cible manner, he says;
The country has ProspsTed IN higher degree than
any other country"
The currency consists almost entirely Of paper
promises, created without limits By banks, and
administered by banks without control, or with
out accountability; therefore the monetary system on
which the country has acted, and is now acting u
the cause of its H1ezaRpled prosperity.
This is the reasoning process by which the coun-
try, by which nation of 2e,000,0O0 Of people
claiming more than a common share of general cul-
tivation and knowledge-haye been persuaded
perhaps We may rather say Ied-not only to tolerate
and endure, but TO support and encourage, sys-
TEN, which, whatever appearances may indicate to
the contrary, has been productive Of an enormous
amount of pecuniary and moral evil.
That the country has prospered, and that banks
and paper promises have existed, are truths too
evident to be denied but the admission Of the truth
of these assertions does not necessarily imply
belief in the truth OF the inference drawn from
that admission. The premises of these reasoners
true, it is admitted but to establish their eonelu
sions upon sure foundation, it must be shown that
what they term is any thing but coincidence
This, so far as we have in remembrance the essays
Of the most distinguished advocates Of the system,
has never been attempted; they have relied upon
the drgumentUH Gd gROratlam and the GTgu1Re7tum dd
DODIkIuU the inconclusiyeness of the relsOnluQS
the subject of banking and the currency, to which
reference has been made, may be illustrated BY
case where the faaciouspess and absurdity will be
made made manifest to the most unrehecIing mind.
q The lands bordering upon the river Nile are re-
markable for their fertility; the pyramids are near
the banks of the Nile; consequently, the pyramids
the Of the extraordinary fertility Of the lands
the borders Of that riper.." Here is case where
the facts are notorious so accessible-nsmely,
that the extraordinary fertility of the land in ques-
zion arises not from the presence Of the pyramids,
out the overlooking of the Nile-that one could
be deceived, or long remain ignorant Of the true
of the fertility; consequently, the fasity OF
the reasoning which attributes the quality OF the
soil to another cause is instantly perceived and re-
Iuted. Mr.. Rauget has excellent chapter on this
subject, in which he examines the whole ground,
ard shows most conclusivey "that the increased
activity given by banks lending their credit freely
does not tend to he promo ion Of public prosperi y,
and to the production of wealth, faster than Would
otherwise take place
The people of the United States have prospered,
not in consequence of their mixed currency, but in
spite Of it. The immense advantages Of their posi-
ton, their unparalleled energy aud industry. have
given them great wealth, Notwithstanding all the
arrangements of business in which their currency
has so frequently involved them. 1t would be as
reasonable to assume, and quite as true, that tue
great prosperity of the American people was owing
TO the large quantities of alcoholic drinksthey have
consumed to their mixed currency.
4. THAT mixed-currency banks are favorable to
young men, and others possessing little CAPT
tai, aud desiring credit /"
Whatever impairs credit and increases the risk Of
loaning, must be unfavorable to those who most
need to borrow. Other thing being equal it must
be easier TO get credit in a community where only
me in twenty fail than where one in five do; the
ess the risk the less the hesitation in giving credit
Now, does the credit money of a mixed currency di
mlnish the risk OF general credits! Far from IL
Common sense teaches a1d statistics prove, that
the hazards Of credit must be just in proportion TO
the credit MONEY Of any country Instead, there
ore of being favorable it is adverse to all persons
Sauting the use of capital. The hazards of credi
d the United States least four times grea
IS they would be under value money currency
Ia the State of Missouri, lat least, up to a very
period there has been but a small proportion
Of mixed currency. The State has had, almost lit
orally, credit MONEY; no State in the Union. hav-
currency banks. And what is the experience of
Missouri? Are credits more difficult 10 be obtained
than 10 illinois, for example, where opposite sys
EN- has extensively prevailed? Has there been
more risk in selling goods 10 men in Missouri than
IN Illinois? Quite the contrary.
The observation of the writer, after extensive
and prolonged expe fence IN business relations with
oh states, is that the RISKS of credit in Illinois
been al least four times create thOn In Missouri
and he is equally well satisfied that the difference i
owing more 10 the difference in currency than any
aud ali Otuer causes combined. Under value mo-
ney currency, any man may be safely entrusted with
capital credit, whose character for prObiiy, and
ability for business. UndOubted. But, under a
credI-mOney system, no matter what amans pr0bity
capacity for business if he chances TO get caught
IN HE meshes Of a contraction, with amount OF
Liabilities with which he would have been safe dur
log the expansion, he is a ruined man; and as he
had no means of knowing when the crisis would
come, he is the innocent victim of the system. The
man who IN 1918 or 1885 owed 100000, and found
1t easy to meet his engagements would very likely
be a bankrupt if he owed the same amount 10 1919
or 1886. But how could he know that it was not as
safe TO take credit in 1919 and 1886 in 1918 and
1888! Now capitalists, if they do not know the
cause, well know the effects; they understand that
,hese terrible periodical revolutions do come, and
they know hatthe consequences are almost universal
bankruptcy, and hence their unWillinguess TO loan
heir funds on individual credit. But banks OF this
description no. only injure the credit of all who
borrow money, but they have the effect of producing
a most unequal division of che capital of the cOun-
try. Banks, have before shown create no capt.
tai they only collect ii together and having got it,
they loan il out. not equally as the wants of the
public demand, but according to the interests anu
caprices Of the directors. A bank having a capital
Of 100000, owned by one hundred individuals,
would be under the control of some seven or nine
directors, who would have the loaning of all that
amount, instead Of the one hundred owners OF the
stock And what would be the natural consequence?
Why that said directors would bel first themselves
shen ,Aeir friends, and lastly, the public, if there
we're any capital lett as there would be likely TO
be much, especially in hard times, when the public
most want accommodation. Those who CHANGED to
be in favor would get money, but how would it be
with the masses?
All the facts tfst have been brought to light by
bank investigations 60 to prove that but very lew
persons get bank loans. On an investigation into
the affairs of thirteen banks in Ohio, few years
since, it was found that their entire loans, amount
ing TO S4 All $50, made to but 3,2O6 persons
and Of this number 1853 got Sl,779,329, lover one
third of the whole, and about $4,000 apiece and
that only one person out of 500 in the whole State
got any! Many banks in New York and New Eng
md have shown worse state Of things; sometimes
he entire loans of a bank have been monOpolzed
by halia dozen greedy, speoulstiug directors! This
system, 50 far from assisting young men," gener-
ally, asserted, assists, comparatively, few per
sous and those often the richest in the community,
for such are most likely TO have the management OF
banks; and thus enable them 10 make great monopo-
lies at the expense Of persons of less capital The
immense disparity in the business establishments OF
the present age, comp AIRED WITH those Of former
times, is owing greatly TO this system; the few are
enabled to do business gigantic scale-the many
are unable to do business all; they are reduced
10 mere laborers Tor wages.
GLORIOUS Old PENNsYLvANIA-Th Philadelphia
Press of the 18th inst states that the majority for
General Packer, Democrat for Governor, in Pennsyl
Vlnla, cannot be less han forty-fv thousand over
Wllmot Black-Republican, and that he will beat the
whole opposition combined twenty thousand The
balance of the StaLe ticket has ennallv larca ma