New-York daily tribune., 1858-10-13

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NJ. Bepismin r. Curtis. lately justice oil the
suprere Court of the United states. previous 10
his accession to that oftce was Il member OF inc
Massachusetts, House of Representatives. III whlch
he sat At the time that Mr.. sumner was elected 10
the Senate. Mr. Curtis was most violent oppo-
nent Of that election. and among other desperate
m. ans 10 which he rc,orted to prevent IL was the
promucation on the door of the House OF hs
opinion. as lawyer, thst the coalition when had
been formed between the then frce->ollers AMI tue
Democrats. and which resulted ia the election oI
GOV. Boutwell, ard aiterward of Mr.. Sumner To the
Senate. wssa crimiua procedure, which subjected
the parties TO il to prosecution under the Massa-
chus.tts statutes against bribery. Everybody
laughed al the time at this eXtrayagant opinion,
which indeed, instead of hurting those at whom II
was aimed. seriously damaged the reputaion oi the
gentleman who uttered 1t as the possessor OF
sound and sober Judgment upon questions OF law,
for which be had obtained local reput t,tlon. But,
absurd and e1tray8gant AS this pronulgaton was
esteemed at the time, it appears that this same
legal gentleman has given. rs Il lawyer, formal
opinion. based on very similar view OF the law,
and what makes the case more noticeable is that
Mr. Caleb Cushing md Mr.. Benz. T. Butter VINO, at
that time, were warm COaitlon..tS, and among the
partes struck at in Mr. Currss former opinion,
have concurIed in thai which he has now given.
The new case is that of the >ailOlk Bank, which
is or rather has been, engaged in contest which,
il seems. now however, To have given up, 10 force
the maintenance of the Suffolk Bank system. so
called. by which for the last thirty years all the
country banks OF New England have been com
pelled 10 keep fund il tho Suffolk Bank for the
redemption of their circulating notes. That this
system hos been of the greatest benefit to the eur
rency of New.Ensand indispo onSable IN fact to It's
uniformity and safety, nobody can doubt Some
of the couptr, banks however have of late raised
a cry against IT a. too stringent upon them and
too profitable o. the Suffolk Bank. and have set mp
= new bank in Boston called the Bank Of Mutual
Redemption. Of which the! own the stock. bs
means OF which they propose 10 take the business
of redeemiag their bills in Boston into their own
hands. There are some pretty obvious objections
10 this new system az compared wit the old one.
II may be- more convenient for the country banks,
less expensive 70 them, and less stringent upon
them, but then il is the very strngency Of the ys-
TEN in which all its virtue consists. At all events
the Su1olk Bank has made an effort % retain that
position of balsncc-wheel Of The NcwEnglald
currency which il had so long held, and,
IN doing So has resortcd 10 the very same course of
operations by which it originally compelled the
country bank. to come into the system. FOR this
purpose it has collected large amounts Of the bills
Of those banks " whch had withdrawn their deposits
from It, and has sent them in mass to the banks.
demanding specie at their counters instead oi
going 10 the B4nk of Mutual Redemption where
they had made arrangements 10 pay.
In adopting this course, which was directly
within the legal rights of the Suffolk Baua-as
otherei ise it would have been no annoyance to
the country banks--thc directors OF the Suffolk
Bank. according to the opinion signed by the three
lawyers above named. are guilty Of criminal coz
spracy--sn unlawful coniederacy To- disorder and
embarrass the affairs Of the banks, which are the
objects Of IT, which makes the directors Of the
Suffolk Bank Liable 10 indictment in any county, if
not in any State, "Where an overt act is done in
" pursuance Of the coIiederacy.n That IS 10 say,
in the opinion Of those learned lawyers, TO cal upon
bank to redeem its bills in strict accordance wiki
the provision ot the law on the subject, instead Of
consulting tie convenience of the bank ITSELF is
udictabe ofense Lawyers, as mere lawyers, if
placed under the stimulus Of sufficient fee, will
occasionally 10 to most extraya9ant lengths; but
We doub. whether any three mere lawyers
could have been got % sign such an
opinion as this. TO bring men up 10 that
point, requires u training il pOitica as well al
law.
But though the directors Of the Suffolk Bank
might well laugh at such ridiculous attempts 70
make them amenable to criminal prosecution, !
they have done well, We think, 70 give over the
attempt To maintain their system against the for
! dable confedeIacy which hes been formed to
put il down. But though that particular system
may be abandoned. the substance of it must still
b. maintained; nor should we be the least sur
prsed if, after having had their own way for a
while, the very projectors Of the new system
should be- the first to solicit the Suffolk Bank TO
resume the duty which il has for so long time
20 faithfully and yigilantiy discharged.
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