Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-07-14
The The war spirit among our Ranks.
To THE EDIroRs OF THE PATRIOT:

| o THE EDITORS OF THE fATRlOT
The war between the Planters Bank and
the Bank of Tennessee is very unjust and OPP
pressive to the people at large. know not
which could make the better showing of justi-
fcation-it would. perhaps. be difficult to de
.termine. were all the facts. pro and con, sifted
to the bottom-but it is of small consequence
which is most in fault in comparison with the
results of such conflict upon every interest
of the State. The manifestations which have
so frequently been made of late among our
Banks generally, as well as among the money
brokers, to strike at and cripple each other at
every opportunity. is truly deplorable. The
real sufferers are the people at large. These
| ftful Bank wars, coming upon the community
| without warning. and apparently without
cause from anything visible in the commercial
| or monetary affairs of the country produce
sudden and disastrous contractions and expan-
| the most prudent and sagacious outsiders can
make who venture to use their credit at all
And every description of property and produce
on sale is at once affected vitallv by the
scarcity or abundance Of money produced by
such causes. There surely never was State
which has so much suffered from the evils Of
banking as the State of Tennessee. The leg
islation giving rise to orr present peculiar
system of Banks was inindicious. and the
spirit actuating our Bank managers would
seem to be perverse ill-tempered. and short
| sighted to degree almost unparalleled.
have always been a Bank man. and am
| still persuaded that Banks. properly conduct
ed, are of much intrinsic service to the COM
mnnity: but am convinced that it is better
to have no Banks at all than To no harrassed
with such banking as we have had in Tennes-
see. I believe that thousands of others are
beginning. for the first time. to feel this senti-
ment strongly. and that it only requires a
concerted movement, placing tie whole case
fairly before the people, to sweep the whole
batch of Tennessee Banks ont Of existence.
In Mississippi, Illinois, and other States.
where they have no Banks, they are wholly
freed from the sudden. unnecessary. and dis
astrous contraetions and expansions. growing
ont Of local Bank wars and truces. such
have characterized Tennessee Banks and hank
ing within the last few wears. They have inst
ne mrch money in circulation as if they had
Banks-it being the returns of sales of their
produce or property. sold abroad for golI and
silver. or the circulating notes of Banks of
other States. Sometimes this latter cur
rpncv is had. bnt never worse than a like pro-
portion of our Tennessee Bank paper. The
-. IL
are no local Banks. depends almost wholly
upon the amonnt of produce shipped to mar
knt. and its relative proportion to the pnr-
chases made from abroad But here. the Banks
can produce an artificial scarcity ahun-
dance of money when they choose and they
choose to worry the community with these
pressures and rcla>ations altogether too often
A Bank war will produce pressure at any
time. and Bank war. with small-mnded
Bank managers, may I've started out Of the |
merest trifes at any time. Such wars fire.
qucntlv come upon ms with the suddenness of
a tropical storm, and are as devastating. We |
have three or four diverse systems of Banks, |
al in rivalry, all imperfectly planned. man
agcd with plentitude of the war spirit. and |
aided bv privateer brokers in keeping up an
irregular running fight. most disastrous to the |
true interests and prosperity of the communi- |
ty. have calmly watched these pcrncious
Bank chickering's for long time. They great
lv retard the solid prosperity of the people. |
Nothing can he more important than uniform
ity in the currency. Whether abundant or
scarce. does not so much matter as that il |
should be uniform. Credit can never be sound,
or safely employed. while the amount of the
medium is always subject to these |
violent changes Tennessee has borne enough /
of this crying evil. If it does not cease, let
the people unite in instructing their lcgisla-
tors as soon as possible to sweep the Banks
from existence. CIvIs.