Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1860-11-27
RESPONSE OF Coz. QUARLEs.

Nasty IL, Nov. "a. 1860. Z
| GENrLEMEN: have the honor to acknowledge thu
receipt of your communication, asking my opinion
a. one o. the financial officers Of the State
Fu'st-As 10 the condition OF the Banks;
Seooad-As to the proper remedy to relieve the
country of its Unprecedented pecu7iary embarrass
| ments.
| If, as citizen merely, it would be my duty tC
give you the benefit Of whatever information
might possess much more is it my duty when ap
piled to in my Official character.
Your estimate of the pecuniary coalition of the
country, gloomy it is falls far short of the rea
! ty In the discharge Of my official dates, have
/ visited many of the cities, town. and counties OF
| the State, and in examining the condition of the
Banks necessarily learned many facts relative to
the pecuniary condition of the communities in
which they are located. In addition to which,
have felt it to be my duty to make inquiry
everywhere l have been, of the citizens
disconnected with the Banks, and the conclusion to'
which have come, f ON information thus obtain
ed, is, that unless there is immediate relief from
some source the results will be a wide spread bank.
rup icy, involving ali classes Of eitizens-a stop in
the progress if not the destruction, of every public
enterprise and eliminating in actual want upon the
part of those who depend upon their daily labor for
means of support.
1t needless stop inquire into the causes pro-
dacing this condition of things. 1t is enough to
know that it exists. The two great sources, how
ever, doubtless the successive failure of the
crops and the political temper of the times, border
ing upon revolution. Other causes than these are
but mere r7ulets helping nevertheless to swell
the engulfng torrent
The failure of the productive resources is suth-
Gent of itself to produce Pecunary embarrassment
the producing classes furnishing the true basis of
all pccuniary operations, there must cessarily be
diminution or an increase in the circulating me-
dunn in exact ratio with the dminution or increase
Of that basis. A full crop is always followed by
a full currency, scarce crop by scarce currency
Banks it is true, can and do furnish credits by
means of which the products of a country
are moved from market to another, but
they never yet created produced one dol
lar. These propositions obvious as they are,
are presented to meet existing in the minds
Of many equally obvious, E, that the condition
of the currency of country is dependent upon the
arbitrary action Of the Banks. lis true, that some
times combination of influence is obtained by
means of which Banks are enabled TO put out cir
culation without legitimate basis, bat fortunately
for the country, such institutions have an epheme-
raj existence and bring disgrace and rum upon
those who manage them.
The true mission of the Banker is, as said above
to furnish the means of moving the products of the
country, and his charges for this agency give a
profit sufficient induce the capital of the country
to seek employment in this channel. In other
words. the Banks are but the common carriers of
the products of the coIntry.
When the producer fails these great vehicles of
trade have nothing to d. and on the other hand
when from any cause they fail, the products of the
soil cannot be moved are moved at runous rates
to the producer. The loss must fall, however, in
either case upon the producer. in the case from
failure of return for the expenditure for his labor;
in the other from diminution of price, resulting
from failure in the Of transportation from
the home market, to the market Of consumption.
Beside the existence of something upon which to |
operate there must exist order to enable the Banks
% fulfil their legitimate MISSION public confidence,
Both causes, the faiInre in the crops and failure
If public confidence the belief in the minds of
many that the country is on the verge if not |
n the ineipient stage of revoutiOn-cO-operate at
his time, to produce state of pecuniary embarI as