M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1858-01-07

Huu placeu lleln III III Lne cateBQy VI
swindlers, and so put an end to their
operations. No stamp duty, no uahk-
rupt act, and no requisition to keep
any proportionate amount Of hard
money on hand, completes the lie64se
and unbounded freedom, and the rer-
feet title to periodical ,explosieps,
which belong to American bank Va.
This last reqaisition, that of keep.
ing on hand ahaThountofh hard mo ey
proportionate to their liabilities, 50 ns
to be unknown (eyen insname) ia HE
United States !; yet that requisite a
legal and Fundamental condition olhe
Bank of England and the proportion
ofone third In gold Of the total amonnt
of its liabilities in circulation and de-
posts is the rate enforced aud below
that proportion the Bank of GLAND
does not deem itself safe. Thus
swore Mr.. Horsley Palmer, Governor
of the Bank of England, before Lord
Althorpe's committee, in 1885: "The
average proportion, as already observ.
| ed, of coin and bullion which the
bank deems it prudent to keep on
hand, is at the rate of a third OF che
total amount of all her liabilities, in,
cluding deposits as we'll as issues. p
And thus swore Mr.. George Ward
Norman, a director of the bank: "For
a full state Of the circulation and dc.
posts, say twenty-one millions Of
notes and SIX millions of deposits,
making in the whole twenty,scyen
millions Of liabilities, the proper sum
in coin and bullion for the bank to
retain its nine millions" And to the
same effect swore other directors. -
But in Great Britain it is not suffi-
cient that this proportion OF one third
is required to be on hand, but it must
be shown, and that continually, that
it is there. This is accomplished by
the publication Of the quarterly week
ly average of the liabilities and assets
Of the bank, from which the public can
always see when the bank has crossed
the line OF safety. How different this
from banking in the United States,
where no proportionable rate ofspece
to the liabilities is even prescribed,
and where five, ten, fifty, ard one
hundred paper dollars for one hard one
in the vault are frequently issued.
But one thing was wanting to COM
plete the titles of cur banking syetem
to utter unworthiness, and that one
thing has been discovered: it is dis
pensation ofthe specie basis. Through
out the world, so far as paper money
is known, a specie basis is deemed
necessary to an institution which is
sues promises to pay specie. Not so
in the United States. Paper upon
paper has become the vogue with rs.
Stocks, and the notes Of other banks,
are the "Sandp' foundations upon
which largo proportion Of our banks
are built
dohot expatiate upon the evils of
sm9h paper money they are palpable
to every observer, and only require
enumeration. l. 1t drives away all
hard money of equal denominations /;
for, in a competition between two cur
rencies, the meaner is always the con-
queror, and chases the other ont of
the field. 2. 1t is the great source OF
the crime of counterfeiting; for the
mass of the counterfeits consist of
small notes. 3. 1t demoralizes the
community; tor people, not being
willing to lose a note for which they
have given value, instead of burning
it when rejected by knowing one as
counterfeit, put it back in the pocket,
and offer it again to an ignorant per-
son who receives it, and who goes
through the same process when reject
ed in his hands. 4. Small notes
make the panics and bring on the runs
which break down good banks for
these small notes being in the hands
of the masses, when they get alarmed
they assemble by thousands at the
doors of the institution which issued
the notes, demand theMoney, break
the banks, and propag gate the alarm
which themselves feel until it becomes
general for nothing is more contag-
ious than a moneyed panic, nor any
thing more unmanageable. 5. 1t pill
lagos the poor and ignorant forevery
base note, every one that is counter
felt or on a broken bank, or on a
bank that never existed, although il
will run for a while, must stop some
where; and when it does, is sure to
stop in the hands of the poor and un-
informed, upon that class least able to
bear the loss, who have no advantage
from banks while in operation, and
who bear the loss when they stop. g.
Ii excites to swindling; for knayes
with nothing but brass for their capi-
tai, and that in their faces instead ot
their Golfers, are induced to set up
manufactures of small paper, to be
sent abroad and sunk upon the hands
n Al - i