Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1863-10-12
General SigeI at the Square
Tonight.

Lrolled with iron hand the whole financial
power Of the country, looked upon this
plan Of Mr.. Chase as an attack upon their
corporate privileges, stab at all theiI
vested and sacred rights, and a scheme to
destroy or drive out of existence all the
securities upon which their issues were
baeed; blot out Of being their own splendid
" promises to pay" and erect upon their
ruins the stocks of the nation and the
uniform currency of the Government
Here was opposition enough truly to sppal
the stoutest heart We quote frcm the
letter of Mr.. Walker again to show the
power Of the banks alone:
"When Mr. Chase, in his first annual Treasury
Report % ne 9th Of December, 1851, recon-
mended . . system Of United States banks, o.
ganiEed by Congress throughout the country,
means and credit, but secured also by an ade-
ouate amount OF Federal stock, held by the Gov
eminent as security for its redemption, it was
yery unpopular and encountered most violent
opposition The s. ate banks, and all the great
connected with them, were arraYed
against the proposed system. When we reflect
tnat many Of these banks Especially in the great
State of New York; were based on State stocks
and in many States that the banks yielded large
revenues to the local government; when We see,
by our census tables Of 1860 Up. 1881 that these
banks numbered l,6i2, with a capital paid up OF
S42t S9O,O95 loans S69l 495 $50, and circulation
and deposits, including specie, Of s5i4 ass, ISL
We NAV re tlizs in part the tremendous power
arrayed against the Secretary. This opposiuon
was so formidable, that neither in the public
press nor in Congress did this reeommendRuon
Of Mr.. Chase receive any onsiderabls support.
But with all this formidable opposition,
Mr.. Chase did not despair, and he appealed
to tie people to sustain him. At that great
tribunal be was sure of hearing. The
two mastery arguments Of the Secretary
on the subject, seem to have satisfied them
thst their safety aud future interests would
be greatly promoted by the passage of the
law. THEY could understand Mr.. Chase,
when he talked of the /" worthless circulC-
tion of Banks in the past, sod knew lOlO
it was that had been duped and victimized
by their pictured promists 10 pay, and their
swept sway in moment BY fail
ing corporations. They understood what
it was to suffer and be left without any
aid or assistance when they vsinly lifted
up their voices against the frauds they had
suffered They knew and could appreciate
what a sound and uniform currency, good
at all times for its face and amply secured
by the pledge Of the public credit, meant.
And they telt that n all respects il must
be superior 10 the wretched trash that for
many years pass bad flooded the land.
They had paid taxes enough to soulless
corporations and swindIers, and bad too
often exchanged their toll and their prop
erty that sehemers and spectators Uigl t
be enriched from their miseries. And Con-
gress felt this change in the great public
sentiment and listened TO its voice; and
the plan Of Governor Chase became law.
Not only this, but the great Banks Al d
Bankers, many of them, were found yield
ing 10 the popular voice, and favOring the
law; while others eontented themselves
with nominal or secret opposition. Thus
it was that Mr.. Chase triumphed in the
end. Already one hundred banks have
avsiled themselves of the privileges, and
are organizing under the law. And but
a little time will elapse before a national
currency, good in every nook and corner
of the Union, will replace the paper Of
local banks; and every human being the
holder of the paper, or securities of the
Government, will have a direct and per.
sonal interest in sustaining the Govern
msnt and keeping its credit high above the
reach Of malice or revolution. When this
is done the great problem of our future
safety will have been solved.
We close this article by another extract
from Mr.. Walkers letter, and shall have
occasion to refer to his other letters here
after.
"But, besides the financial benefits to the
Government of Mr.. Chase's system, its other ad-
yaptages are great indeed. 1t VIII ultimately
displsce our whole State bank system and circu-
lation, and give us national currency, based on
ample private capital and Federal stocks, cur
rency of uniform value throughout the coun ry,
and always certainly convertible on demand INTO
coin. Besides, by displaeing the State bank cir
culation, the whole bank note currency OF the
Union will be based on the stocks ofthe Govern
ment, and give to every citizen who holds the
bonds or the currency, (which will embrace the
whole community IN every st41s,l Gireet inter-
est in the maintenance Of the Union"
1.-The annual losses which our people sustain
under the separate State bank system, in the
rate OF exchange, is enormous whilst the con-
slant ard eyer-recurring insolvency Of so many
Of these institutions, accompanied by eight gen
eral bank suspensions Of specie payment, have
from time TO time spread ruin and devastation
throughout the country"
believe that, In period OF twenty years. the
saving to the people ofthe United States, by the
substitution Of the new system, would reach
sum very nearly approaching the total amount OF
our public debt. and in time largely exceeding 1t.
As question, then, Of national wealth, as well SIS
national unity believe the gain to the country
in time BY the adoption OF the new system, Will
far exceed the cost of the war. Il was the State
bank system in the rebel States that furnished to
secession manly the sinews Of war. These
banks are now generally insolvent, but if the
hanllpg system now proposed had been IN ex-
istence, and the circulating medium IN all the
States had been an uniform national currency,
based entirely on the stocks OF the United States,
the rebellion could never hsVe occurred. Every
bank and all its stock holders and all the holders
of the stock and notes of all the banks, embrac-
ing our whole paper currency, would have been
united to the Government by an interest so direct
and universal that REBEL on would have been i'm
possible. Hamilton and Madif on, Story and Mar
shall, and the Supreme Court Of the United
States, have declared that to the Federal
Government belongs the entire regulation Of
the currency OF the country That power they
have now exercised in the adoption of the sys-
TEN r commended by the Secretary. Our whole
currency, in coin as well as paper, will soon,
now all be national, which IS tbe most impor-
tant measure for the secur1t y and perpetuity Of
the Union, and the welfare of the people, ever
adopted by Congress. It is to Congress that The
Constitution grants the exclusive power to reg
ulate commerce in foreign nations and among
the States and a sound, uniform currency, in
coin, or convertible on demand into coin, is one
of the most essential instrumentalities connect
ed with trade s1d exchanges"
VaIiindigham and the Pay of Soldiers.
Elsewhere we give a record of Vallan-
digham as the bills TO increase the pay
of soldiers. A Vallandigham paper says ::