Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-03-01
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.


ty through his connection with Kansas affairs.
He went into them high in the confidence Of the
great mass of the Democracy, and came out of
them perhaps as unpopular with that Organise
ton as Mr.. John P. Hale himself, though the
chief deity for the time being of the tickle af-
fections Of abolitiondom. But Mr.. Walker,
being gentleman always keeping an eye open
to the main chance-to legitimate business
soon came to appreciate the fact that neither
money nor desirable fame could accrue to him
through " shrieking for freedom" in Kansas.
So he eased off as an agitator until already he
has come to care very little, indeed, whether
| Topeka beats Lecompton-the great point to be
subserved just now by the Republican party
and their absquatulating allies. Mr.. Walker
is a man Of business, emphatically; and to fol-
low politics for an employment, as he knows
well, he must become a sort of distinguished
loafer, than which, with his habits of industry,
he would rather wheel paving stones by the
| barrow full from morn till night. The excite
ment of the affair being over, as far as he is
concerned, he has apparently done just what we
expected him to do-has concluded to let To-
peka, Jim Lane, and, indeed, all Kansas, 60 to
TOphet their own way, and as fast as possible
provided they will no longer abstract his atten-
ton from the Pacific Railroad enterprise, and
| the great silver-mine- claim case in which he is
| so deeply interested Sensible Mr.. Walker, as
all with judgments worth pinch of snuff will
agree.
| Nevertheless the Republican party politi-
clans, and especially the absquatulating Dem
Ocratic politicians, who have of late been
screening their regeneration under the shad-
ow of his very elaborate coat tail (political)
fors small a gentleman physically are taken
all aback on discovering that the distinguished
Ex-Governor declines to be mixed up farther
with active opposition to Lecompton. He is
accused in their newspapers of having written
as much to the late Elder-Forney Republican
party meeting in Philadelphia and also of
having refused to write even that much to the / q
Horace Greeley Branbread Brisbane, Philo-
sopher-Dana,-Post poets,-and-Lucy Stone
circle meeting that was to have been (but was
mott held in the Academy of Music in New
York City, to hear Mr.. Frederick p Stanton
L" Shrek for freedom in dulcet tones
In fine, they accuse him of deliberately elect
ing to let the of abolition politics to the %
ID; and they are berating him for being a
bought traitor-an ungrateful mana fellow
who never had any fixed principles about any
thing-iu short, for having determined to run
saw upon Republican partyism from the first
Now, they are mistaken. From all We can
learn, Mr.. Walker adheres to all his last pub
licly-expressed views on the Kansas question
being still chief among the Democratic alb.
squatulators, though not choosing to neglect
Legitimate business to tramp over the country
shrieking for freedom" according to the
most approved fashion down East He, there
fore, does not deserve the anathemas being
showered upon him by the newspapers that Sc
recently could find no words sufficiently fat.
tering to be applied to his patriotism as illus
trated in his disqualification from the Demo
cratic party. 1t is due to the cause Of truth
and justice that he should thus be set right be
fore the country.
INTEREST ON DEPosIrs.-Ths legitimate
bankers Of New York are endeayoring to do
away with the pernieious practice of allowing
interest on deposits in banks-a fruitful source
of much of the undue and disastrous CONNER
cial and other speculation of the day. Nearly
all the banks Of that city have agreed to dis
continue the practice, and also not to grant
any special favOrs in the way Of undue dis
counts, &c, to large depositors, in lieu of the
interest heretofore allowed to them. There is
now prospect that, with the exception Of half
dozen of the hardest run banks of the city,
all OF them will come into the arrangement.
those refusing to do so will soon find them
selves and their interests the objects of a DOW
erful, and, We think, successful combination on
the part of the rest to force them into the adop-
ton of the healthy measure.
The journal Of Commerce says Of the per
nicious practice and the proposed remedy for
it:
| BANK DEPOSITS We noticed some time
| since, movement which had been set on foot 10
| abolish the custom that had obtained auono
| most OF our banks, Of allowing interest upo1
| deposits. The origin Of this evil was in the
ehort made by some city institutions at the time
| OF the1r organization, to draw away the best
portion OF the country bank accounts from the
| Older city banks. Gradually the privilege was
extended to Insurance Companies and other As
| sociatons having large amount of money TO be
| deposited, until II became a common pi actice to
make some allowance, either directly or indi-
| ietty, TO any deposition who could control large
balance The evil Of this practice did not lie
| SO much in the competition il created in the
struggle for accounts, and the inducements il
furnished to dePositors TO accumulate AN unem.
ployed surplus here, but in the motive il gave to
| the banks themselves to extend their loans he
| yond the limit Of prudence. An old bank under
| The former system soon learned what portion of
lts deposits IL could rely upon as permanent and
could safely lend nearly up to this average lint
| under the new system no such calculation could
De made and while there Was increase induce
Hent 10 extend the line to MA ke the balances
available. there was an increased danger i'm reIy-
| ing upon the Pernanency of the deposit No
| bank could afford to pay per cent. inter est upon
| deposits, and keep any considerable portion of
| the amount on hand in specie and thus the sy.-
tenn OF call loans sprung up. Most Of those bank :
whose deposits bore interest, loaned out nearly
all OF their surP us funds, reserving the rig ht to
| call a large portion in ut the moment of need
This system created constant fluctuations in the
market, and finally exploded during the panic,
when the loans were called for, and wouldn't
| come! ~
From CALIFORNIA
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. S, 1853
| Editor Of the Star:
fiesuming that few Items from this portion
Il lAf q NIrrA nrn..rr