Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-07-24

The advocates of an unrestricted system Of banking
in Tennessee are daily insulting the intelligence
Of the people with the argument that the banks
create the wealth and prosperity OF the country.
They would have the farmer Relieve that he is in
debtsd for the that is in his crib to the hus-
bandty of the banks. They would have the hard
working mechanic believe that it is the life-giv-
ing charity of the banks that puts meat into his
suoke-house and clothes upon his back. That but
for the banks the corn would cease to grow, and
labor to yield its reward. That but for our banks
wealth and prosperity would flee the country, and
the people be left in orphsnage and want
These learned fnaneiers would be shocked if told
that it is the ruitfulness of the earth, the genial
rains from above, and the toll Of the husbandmen
that make the wheat and corn grow and that it is
the brawny arm of the woodman and mechanic that
prepares the material and constructs cur houses,
and performs every other office that increases the
real wealth Of the country. They would be shocked
if told that banks nothing but only add to the
list Of consumers in the land; and that every real
dollar to be found in bank-vaHlt or distributed
among its stockholders was produced by labor, form
ed and fashioned before it entered bank. They
would be shocked if told that every morsel of bread
consumed by the owners of banks and every luxury
they enjoy, was produced by the sweat of the Ia
| boring million, the majority of whom never saw
within a bank, and who little dreamed as they we're
pursuing their daily svOcatiOns, hard to earn a
soanty subsistence for themselves and family that
by a system of trade and finance that is greek to
them, one-half of their labor is to 60 to the sup
port Of men they never saw, who sit entrenehed
behind vested rights and privileged corporations.
Men are told in Tennessee, by one aspiring to be
Governor that the real value of that sOrrel mule
is derived from banks and is dependent upon their
continuance forgetting that it is the demand for
mules and the supply of mules that determine their
value, aud that the only way their price can be ST
fectediby the banks is by fraudulent system of
over-iasue, begeting unhealthy speculation, one of
the gravest offences charged against the banks.
Banks, when safely guarded and conducted for
public good, are eOnUeR'snces,, but nothing more
They are auxiliaries to trade and commerce, and
promote the general interests Of society by the Of
fees they perform. Il is only the piiifuly ignorant
or the brszen demagogue who would seek TO misesd
the common mind with the impression that capital,
and not labor, produces the wealth and prosperity
Of the country.
The people of Tennessee may rest assured that
they eau never arrive at sourd system Of banking
through the ageney of party that seeks to delude
them with such sorhistries. The man who attempts
to practice fraud is never looking to the good of
the party defrsuded; and the party that would seek
to nspguFate policy upon false and decei'ful pleas
of public advantage, are looking to their own and
not the public good.
The position of the Democratic party presents
striking contrast 1t recognizes well-directed labor
the true and proper source Of all real wealth and
substantial prosperity ard seess 20 foster and en-
courage IT, 1t would stimulate the farmer, aid the
mechanic, uphold the merchant, and facilitate iaud-
able enterprise by every just and proper means
To our complex system of commerce aid trade 1t
looks upon s3und aud reliable banking system as
an important aid, and upon these views would con
duct the legislation of the country. Let the people
jeterm he who is playing the honest part before
them, aud to whose policy they most confident
Is trust for sound currency and uninterrupted pros
perity.