Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-05-20
For the Yorkyille Enquirer.

For the Yorkyille Enquirer.
TO THE PEOPLE OF YORK DISTRICT.
As I differed in opinion from the majority of the
delegation Of this District, on the all absorbing
question which was agitated in the last Legisla-
ture, and as I was led, from convictions Of duty
and o sound policy, to oppose the action Of that
body in suspending the operation Of the Act Of
1910, making suspended Banks liable to pay into
the public Treasury, s per cent. on their notes in
circulation I had hoped, after returning home,
that any further controversy as to the subject,
would have been suffered to slumber forever as
nothing, in my judgment, could be effected pro-
motive of the public good, by blowing alive the
embers Of discord which had blazed so iercely du-
ring the discussion before the Legislature; and
that in the coming canvass, questions Of different
import, and Of more immediate bearing, perhaps,
upon the country's welfare, would have engaged
the public mind. The action Of the last session is
irrevocable-the mischief done, is now irremedi.
able. But in this expectation I am disappointed.
At the last Extra Term of the Court Of Common
Pleas for this District, the Grand Jury, in pursu'
suance of the charge delivered to them by the pre-
siding Judge, in which they were, Us they always
are, told that it was their province and duty to
present oil matters coming within their obserya.
ton, touching the general welfare of the commu-
nity-submitted q presentment in which they took
occasion to notice the deleterious influence, of the
corrupt and perverted system Of Banking in South
Carolina, and to characterize these institutions as
highly hurtful to the general prosperity Of the
country; in which opinions and suggestions they
were warmly sustained by the venerable Judge,
in q spirited response to their presentment, from
the Bench. And now, this act Of the Grand Ju
ry has been seizedup as aprete1t for re-ope ming,
after the eleventh hour, o discussion Of the sub
ject upon which the Legislature has already pass
ed. A writer over the signature of "W,"-who
/ assume, was one of the delegates who voted
for the relief of the Banks; from his protested
familiarity with the details Of the debate in the
LEGISLATURE, and also because Of the fact, that,it
was generally understood before the publication
of his article, that he would appear in the public
prints-has entered the deserted field with a -four
ish of trumpets, after the battle had been fought
and the victory won and by o multifarious pro-
ductiou of considerable length, has attempted to
exculpats the Banks from the just censureS due to
their many offences, as well as to defend the &C:
ton of the last Legislature ab~solving them from an
honest liability, incurred by the double sanctions
Of their own contracts, and the laws of the land.
With what success, remains yet to be questioned.
I deeply regret the necessity of obtruding my
self upon the public notice through the press at
this time, but inasmuch as I am, indirectly
though not designedly arraigned before my con-
s~tituency to answer for my official conduct, by the
writer, in his advocacy Of a measure which l op-
posed with all my might, I feel that lowe it to my
self, and also to those coinciding with me in opin.
ion, that I should say something in vindication of
nv course in reference to the question under con-
sideration.
In regard to the article to which I now propose
to invite public scrutiny, I must in candor say,
that while 1 am very far from endorsing his views
upon the subject of Banks and banking, and have
no patience OF all with either his premises or con-
touching the action Of the last Legisla-
ture, that he has made his statements and deliver
ed his opinions in a calm and dispasionate, manner
WORTHY of emulation. In this particular I will en-
to respect his example. For his manner
have great ~regard-for his matter very little. L
will not aim at a thorough discussion Of the right
and theory Of banking; 1t is the system
practiced in our midst with which we have more
to do. In South Carolina, the one Is
AZ far from the other, as the laws which govern
the vegetable kingdom are from those which con-
the solar system. Besides, / regard it as en-
tirely dehors the issue mainly presented by the
writer, although in. his rambling commentary, he
dilated at some length upon the usages OF
the Banks, and their great utility to the country
and has INDUCED in the most eItravagant eulogies
and strange assertions touching the benefits and
privileges flowing from these interpretations to the
public.
Before 1 proceed to consider the policy OF the
action of the last Legislature, l will notice some
the positions taken by the writer on the subject
of Banks and banking generally. After speaking
their method Of operation, and contrasting their
privileges under a charter with that Of any indi-
vidual to bank upon his own capital without a
charter, he says: "these individuals are far better
without the trammel ofincorporation )" and again,
"ths whole advantage Of incorporation is, that it