, 1861-05-17

THE 1UhRENCY OUEs EIOy.

ling that the attempt to sustain the cur
rency Of the Illinois banks during the con-
tiruance Of The present rebellion, should
be made. And when we yielded assent to
the arrangement which was entered into
between the business men aud the bank
e1s Of this city, we did go cheerfully and
With the hope that the mutual stipulations
would be carried out in good faith, and
that We should have for home use cur
rency which, if not readily and eheapiy
convertible, would meet the pressing wants
Of the people until such time at better
could be obtained. Since The date Of the
arrangement to which We allude, impor
tant events have happened, which render
it certain that considerable part CT the
circulating mediun-a]l that based wholly
sr mainly upon the bonds Of the seeding
States be discreditca and thrown
out We refer to the following:
L At the time Of the arrangement, Ten
aeseee was still supposed 10 DO . l., I've,
member OF the I'";~. aa.a
pat iotic duties and material interests that
she would not eecede. 1he anticipations
Of her good conduct in this crisis have been
disappointed. She has gone out; but not
content with an &C! Of secession alone, she
has joined her fortunes to the Confederate
6tasea. and thereby virtually declal ed war
upon the Federal Government, for which
she has prepared by authorizing the arm
Ing and equipment Of 5000 men and tho
borrowing Of $e,o0o,0o) certAinly, and
100000 contingently, for war purposes.
Her bonds to the amount of near one mill
ion seven hundred thousand dollars under
lie the currency which is threatened; indeed
they make up the bulk Of the securities Of
the doubtful and soon to be discredited
notes. That, waging war upon the North
in the way contemplated by the magnitude
OF her preparations, she will involve her
self so ruinously and hopele:sly in debt
thai her bonds will be almost, If not Who'll
ly value1ess, is as certain as that the levy
ing of armies costs money. There remains
the hope that the people will, in June next,
disavow the treason Of her Legislators and
compel her loyalty; but that hope is 80
faint that it goes tor naught. Practically,
then, Tennessee has seeded; and inFaria-
bly, secession is ruin and population.
IL Missouri has followed the bad example
of Tennessee Her Legislature did its ut.
most to force her out Of the
Union; but failing in that, succeeded by
series Of acts cunningly devised, as if for
that very purpose, in giving her credit
blow which eren the vigorous proclama-
tions Of Gen. Harney cannot ward of. She
will pay ro more interest. The fund pro-
vided for that purpose. and even the school
fund, have been diverted to War prepara-
tions; and her reputation is just es Ger
tain as that the day Of payment will come.
Some few Of our banks are bottomed in
part upon her bonds. It is needless to
argue that these notes have but little in
trlnsic value; everybody knows that they
are not convertible md that as the effect
of the recent legislation becomes sptafe1t.
they will each succeeding dsy Lecou4c
more snd more worthless. Missouri credit,
for years stale and doubtful, is nuw pros
trate.
E Elsewhere in this paper, We print a
list Of the securities and the ban Is holding
them. from which definite idea of values
may be obtained.
III The bankers have not kept faith with
the public, In their agreement they stipu-
lated to receive and pay out Illinois currcn-
cy-meaning al Illinois currency then
bankable. They have not done SO. They
have received the good and the bad--that
based on bonds Of loyal and intcrest-pay-
ing States, as we'll as that bottomed on tho
credits Of the disloyal and rspudiating
states-but they sorted their piles, slowed
away all notes that approached par in val
ne, and paid to tEetr customers the worth
1eas trash, and nothing else. The result
has been that every day the currency has
grown verse aud worse; and exchange on
New York has been just es steadily appre-
ciating in price, until yesterday it rose to
to the unprecedented figure Of IS per cent.
premium. This bad faith is common
70 all of them; and in itself,
affords complete and perfect justification
for ouashing the compact made with them
bv the business men- When the agrce-
mcnt was signed, the bankers stipulated,
also, that they would sell exchange at 10
per cent, and that it should be further re-
duced as confidence was restored We
have not been able 10 learn that any con
siderable number of bills hage been nego
tfated at the rate mentioned. On the con
trsry, the rates have, as the good currency
was sorted out Of the poor, aud the 1atte1
left in the channels Of trade for the busl
ness of the day, steadily advanced, and TIL
tendency ia still upward. The banks d
LAST have the money based on the free State
stocss and the people hare the * ecssioz
currency; and until the latter il throWz
ont we may not expect to see another dol
lar that viii buy New York bill At any
but figure that is rninous to al business
Wehsye stated tbs reasons Wh1sh JUSTLY
8 new deal, and breaking up Of the lat
COMPACT, The banks have themselves t
blame for the most potent Of these. Aa'
they treated the people with that fsarnes
which has BEEN extended to them, the cras
might have been postponed But We sec n
way now except to begin anew, and 8
back Ut once to solid BASH, making specie
not fApx +ha ~ A.. ex-s-a of w~IuA. and frOE