The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1857-10-17
= THE WASHINGTON UNION .felN9 ~

is not our purpose tourgc ,lny system Of banking
We wish merely to show that there are modes which
arc safe, il the managers are honest, and which
have many advantages over those organized under
the present note-issung system. The of the
people want NO bank facilities When tempted TO
use them il usually leads to their ruin. Not in
hundred the cities ever borows deals with them
and in the country not one in thousand does SO.
The merchant derives advantages from the exercise
of some of the functions of banks but he has no
claim to favors which are not common to all honest
men. His soul is neither larger better. But all
that he has claim are those conveniences which are
consistent with the rights and safety of everybody
else. This does not include paper currency A
merchant can have only two reasonable objects in
view one the means of anticipating debts soon to
become due and paid and the other, convenient
mode of receiving and paying debts. bank of dis
count paying money can readily advance while bank
of issue only supplies uncertain, and sometimes
worthless substitute. bank of deposite furnishes
every means of transfer in receiving and paying
debts for those who have money in them with which
to do SO but neither merchants nor any one else
have right to demand that our laws and institutions
shall be shaped for their especial benefit and conve-
nience The common convenience and safety is the
great point to be attained. A system of navigation
which accommodates but small portion of the
whole community will not be approved. Any sys-
tenn of laws that looks to the convenience OF less
than one in a hundred viii not command respect.
If these principles are applied to banks Of issue,
they cannot stand for not one in hundred, nor
probably one in a thousand is at all benefited, while
all are liable to be injured by them What has been
found safe and convenient for the government and
injurious to no one will prove equally so to the peo-
pie at large 1t was once said the government could
not get along without banks and especially without
the great regulator the president of which was
said to be the greatest fnancer in the Union, and
probably in the world, who sat in the United States
Bank "as calm as a summers morning and regu-
lated the paper currency of the whole Union. He SO
regulated it that almost every bank in the Union
failed including the under his CONTROL the stock
of which, owned largely by widows and orphans,
was almost entirely lost. The great regulator"
regulated itself, and the banks, under its influence,
ran into bankruptcy, and many Of them to final de-
struction. ltg@# N aaaa# IS &.p. u. &4 r.
After the fall Of the "great regulator, the gov
eminent established the independent treasury, which
is almost the only place where lawful creditors
can obtain constitutional money on the debts due
them. If we had banks dealing in money all the cur
rency the hands Of people would now be gold and
silver CON- like that in the treasury Then all would
go on smoothly, safe, and well and whoever had cur
rency in his pocket could pay debts and buy with it
whatever he could desire to purchase and could find
for sale, without submitting to depreciation, or loss
es or other question Such currency would place
all men upon an equal footing in relation to the
profits Of its creation and the convenience of its use
giving preference to those who believe they are
wiser and better, and onght to enjoy advantages
which are not common to the people at large