The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-12-18
BANKS AND BANKING.


among them thet u prohibiting bank notes of less
thar twenty dollars and the establishment Of bullion
bank. In relation to the federal government becoming
the custodian of private treasure and issuing paper cur
reney he makes the following pertinent and foreble re-
marks to wkieh We invite the attention of readers
Let me say first, and at the outset OF the inquiry
that discard nadmissble in any sound practicable
plan of reform the nterposon of the general govern
mcnt 50 far respects the supply Of circulating
dium, except by coming money, and by requiring its
coin to be received kept, and paid out by its own off
and agents in its transactions Any scheme by
which the government should be made the depository
coin frohi individuals issuing to them certificates TO be
used as currency or emitting bills of credit, except
when it is reduced to the necessity of borrowing and Civ
ing its stocks treasury notes to the lenders would
only add to the evils desire TO rcnoso. Besides no
government should e nusted with the specie of the
country, except TO the extent OF its revenues The
people themselves, and banks properly regulated the
best custodans of their treasure There is an at
traction in government authority and in the odor of
tonaity which makes them in certain circumstances
the most dangerous instruments Of Initiation II Is true
the issue OF in hs case would be supported by
equal amount OF specie But all history teaches that
mismanagement is pot the vice of individuals oily Some
of the grossest acts of inproyaence and bad faith in
financial matters haee been committed by governments
With en5rious means in their hands, they are under
pressing necessities, in much danger of abusing their
trusts any other body of The pecunary means
of this city would be far safer in long of years
under the entire direction and control of ts
cnanIS bankers. WIN SOUND system OF banking,
the government would quite often need their assist
ance as they that of the government. With their
treasure in the hands of the government in the event OF
public CONFUSION, (and who dare say that country
shall be exempt from national calamity in any form p
they would be entirely 1t its mercy,
There are other grave objections TO such scheme
Ii would make the government the custodian Of private
property and impose on 1t class of responsibilities
which can with propriety be cast upon it, 1t might
be convenience ID capitalists if the government would
take their money, aud he responsible for it, issuing in
exchange its notes certificates which could be used
currency but it seems to that it would be in viola
ton of all sound principles of government well
finance. believe it would be entirely useless to bring
forward any such scheme for u can never Dc think
receive the sanction of Congress or II Il should il would
be speedily abolished The people Of the United States
are every year becoming more strongly welded to the
existing SYSTEM mean the receipt custody and pay
ment Of the precious metals BY the government in its
own transactions and my law making innovations
it, by authetsitg the emission of paper on deposits,
whether public private, would, | am confident, be
promptly repealed.
While on this subject, let say word in regard
to the Independent treasury, it is usually called AS
all know the primary object In establishing to
the funds of the government from Tile effects of
meeia arrangement BY giving the custody of them to
its own officers Its HAD been previously de-
posted In bahNs and in more than one instance the
government, by the suspension of its depositaries had
been unable to command obtain them for its own
uses. Though security the chief object of the indie
pendent treasury, it performed office of the highest
importance 10 the community. The funds OF the gov
ernment while in the custody of the banks, were, like
deposits by individuals made the basis of loans and OF
issues OF paper money They contributed to the espan
sion of the we'll of loans and discounts
they gave an impulse to speculation and, what was
worse, in precise ratio of their an.aunt This the
most Objectionable foatire Of the system When the
commerce Of the country was most extended, and
running into hazardous specuations the of
The government augmented in like proportion
and these being deposited with banks were made the
basis OF new loans Thus these acted and reacted
upon each other and produced in the commercial crisis
OF 1887 the most DISASTROUS revuson in every branch of
industry and every channel of enterprise The custody
of the government funds by its officers with
power to use them except for the payment of public dues
on the drafts of the government ITSELF has exactly
tersed the action of the former system When
into excess the payment of duties exhas the
camille community of its pecunary means, and thus
checks overaction. On the other hand, when reac-
ton takes place. the government vaults repenshed by
previous excess pour out their accumuatons of coin in
payment of the public dues and thus break the force of
the shock to the commercial community In all this
the government is passive. 1t is the simple and natural
operation of the laws of comercethe best of all regu
lator 1t is true the nterposon of the government by
buying up its stocks and paying its debts before they
due done under the present and late Secre
tares of the Treasury, did great good 1t relieved the
mercantile interest, and in 1857 did much to expedite
the return of the banks to specie payments. In any
other mode the interpostiol of the government would
only have produced mischief If it could have added to
the currency except by releasing coin from deposit
created new credits, 1T would only have prolonged the
SUSPENSION postponed the settlement Of balances, and
given life to enterprises which were best dead
have dwc this subject longer than intended with
view TO make single remark more clear. If the in
dependent treasury system had continued from the found
alton of the government without interruption to the
present time it would hardly have attracted the public
attention Great its advantages may say vital
it is to the maintenance of sound financial principles
it would have been appreciated as 1t is now. 1t
only the of system of financial admnistra
ton full Of evil the interests of the community and the
that il has risen in eyes to the dignity
Of an institution It is not on this account less honor
able to its author and his CONDUCTORS in establishing it,
IL required not only foresight to anticipate
all the benefits it has produced, but great courage to
bring forward in the face of long established usagcs
and deeply rooted convictions.
Juneau, Wisconsin, must be pleasant place to live in
about the Fourth of July. The Milwaukee Sentinel having
predicted mild winter upon the fact that nuskats had
built but thin houses correspondent at Necedah Juneau
county, the 9th of December thus addressed that pa
per M. Edtn--We think up this way that those
mskrats you spoke of last fall had better put another
their houses the thermometer stood 81 degrees
below this morning. at coci and twenty degrees
yesterday The coolest day last winter the 9th of
December when the thermometer stood only 81 degrees
below zero
The Chicago Tribune recently published account OF
a womsns having been brutality violated ut Fulton m
nois by two rufians in the evening while her way
from PRAYER meetngtbat in consequence she gave pre-