, 1861-06-04

; l. fEpr tho Chicago Tribunal
The time to speak Is when people will hcas.
War and Money are topics which the public
will tolerate with commendable patience.
'My volce," !" for the present Is forzmoney.
"The proof Of the pudding Ii III the eat.
;ing."'. Ffuespun theories In regard to pud-
ding making, do not change their nature, nor
that Of banks aud both banks and puddings
must be tested by tho same rule. Wo have
been tasting Of the banking theories for the
1ast twenty years What has been the result!
What are the facts, that demonstrate our
begin with tho startling paradox, that in
making currency the, moro We secura thu bills
the less secured they are-the be'ter we make
them the worso they are ;and farther that al
the time the West has called for q currency Of
bread, mud With those very stones they haEo
been pelted nearly unto death.
Our State has bad some interesting expert
ence with banking In early days-ve1y char-
acterishc Of pioneer lne-Which is not much
ind the state Bank On it's last legs, trying to
boleter up etate credit and canal credit, hav-
ing little regard toSbusiness wants, and hold
ing New York exchange at 10 per cent. We
then find George Smith adapting his theory Of
bun King, aud It's Practice, to the wants Of tha
rency, and selling New York exchange, under
the nose Of the State Bank, at az per cent
The stale declarations Of megality and
possibility Of being swindled rua:-
the public would buy that currency which
There was Law Of trade here stronger than
the law of the State. This set Geo. Smith
| above the 1aw. The people held him there be-
GAUGE It was for theiF interest to do SO and
State law could neither raise nor depress the
We ehunned his bills, yet took them-wo
called them .ain Elas.kTa, yet plastered our
shins with 8tate Bank, and boarded Geo.
Smith, or sold his checks for exchange.
They would always buy wheat or pork, DE-
they could buy goods Lumber ta+ Gs ha5d.
!! the merchants with thfs Illegal money could
pay their eaetern debts with it, better Than
with any other currency. We never asked If
| they were seeured, nor. cared whether they
were legal, IT Vas enough that they were 6ts-
chinc-the best working one, is the best ma
OF the c1szs Of shInplaaters, {the despicable
ehlnplaste1s,) the worst money re eYer had,
tho medium q Brad1ey's and Barch's, and rep
resenting millions Of dollars and years Of busi-
nees, exchange all the while ruling Low, loans
easi1y obtnined at reasonable rates-the golden
age Of the West in business aud prosperity
| al told, the public may have lost S, ,0o0-not
over $1,000. Pretty good working inatitu-
| ton, only wholesome friction, enough to
| grove the imperfection Of human Inventions
But the public were not estlsfed. They
would not be ruled by Geo. Smith, the money
king. They must have 3 Ayal currency, which
YES quite right in them. They drove out the
the banks Of other States, ike Georgia, &c.
| Now this surely ought to have been an i'm.
proyement, for 1t was the lyal king the frogs
demanded. But proving itself by tts practical
stH0E NJ eIRsa RaGs coa tSss t61 ao% L. s t.
r., yet somewhat Of tax to pay for legal ore,
shinplaster currency.
The public now began to feel as II there was
some danger Of 1oEs, and they must still fnrthe,
improve the banking Of the West bY having q
secured currency. Therefore they made Rzsga
the legal currency Of those outside banks, and
introduced the State stock syetem, now just
exempli1ed to the perfection in It's practice
The monopoly Of Geo. Smith and actual CAPT
tai Was broken up, and anybody who could
command or demand State stocks, was allowed
to 60 into banking AID furnish secured cur
rency for the people.
The first dahe at the tempting bait, wills the
: public loas Of one OF two millions in the de
probation Of the Indiana and @ few OF the II
linois banks, # this were not improvement
It was progress, IN the old way; Losses running
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and then to millions, aa the system was tluk
cred and improved. Still seeuf1{y, seeurtty VA
the seductive idea Surely If any community
needed security we did, about those days. Ye1
hsgging the phantom, our hope has cu1uina
ted In the year 1851, In loss BY, depreciation
end long period Of exorbitant exchange, o.
not less than $10, ,000, eco. Did any business
! community ever Bntfer such loss before? Il
is more than a1l the Losses combined sustained
by the New England States, from the first te
the last Of their unsecured, worthless ~ ras
currency. We'll may the peopls begin 10 crj
for old King George again, and delfver.nc'
; from all neW tangled money inventions.
Yet we have not been Weaned from the de
!: lusion Of security. II re talk about any i'm
proVemcnt, It Ia in the came direction, ap1ung'
: deeper still into the pit.
Do not these facts prove my seeming para
dox to be truthful problem, that Ae more yo1
secure bank bills as eu,7e4.cv the less szeAre the
dTs3
Looking the matter over from tbls STAN
point, I feel that this is subject which
ahou1d like to discuss with vengeance.
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