The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-10-05
aaitI,mond 1ispattt,
.SATURDAY...... OCTOBER s, 1867.
The National Banks.


I: IS the avowcd policy OF n portion OF tn"
financial politicians OF the country 10 break
down tho national banks We SEQ good to
come from This. 1tmiGht increase the power
OF Wall street; and make tn subsection OF the
nation to New York in its money relations
more complete. Banks are Indispensable in
this country. The spirit Of enterprise and
commercial activity demand them rs agents
TO facilitate transactions, and rs depos tors
to take caro- Of the ca pttal OF the country, and,
In The form OF deposits, 10 keep up sys-
tenn OF loans upon it, TO the great relief and
aid OF commerce and industry. Break down
the banks. and unless the Government comes
into tho financial arena with banks of its own,
issuing notes and bills of exchange, and re-
ceivug deposits. the people would be forced
to trust 10 Individual bankers With increased
pc!i!s, with no boards Of directors, no public
accountability, and no checks and balances to
retard or prevent wild and improvideut EN-.
2loymcnt Of money that must result, in rain
10 all whose confidence has been reposed
where such PRACTICES prevail. But the Go
rernment, while Il might furnish the cx-
change from one point 10 another, and might
afford the safety OF a chest 10 keep the money
OF deposIors, would not become lender OF
money either of its own or that OF dcpoSi,ors
and thus one OF the most important agencies
OF banks OF discount and deposit would be
completely lost TO the people.
The Government, by The Ingenious sys-
lem OF National Banks, banking upon Govern.
ment securities, and bnilt mp on the ruins o!
tn" State banks, which w"rr lcSislatcd out OF
existence pari 7iuSSu with the establishment o:
the National Banks, is quite enough mixed
up with the currency and banking system o!
the country. It's further agency in this re-
sprct would not be consistcn with safety, and
would certainly add 10 the dcspotic nature OF
the governmental authority, already suf-
GENTLY arbitrary 10 suit anybody whose tastes
inclinc 10 the despotic view of politics. Such
further participation in the banking business
would open The door TO Il new batch OF frauds
and cviTS practices for the promotion Of paru-
san ambition and the qualification of the
greedy schemes Of corrup, Office holders. No
citizen who has :: proper yicw OF III" question
could desire TO see ;hc country placed more
ciicctually in the hands of such people.
In the absence of specie pavmcntS-whtch
are Vet So far in the future that there are no
signs whatever of their rcturn-thcrc can he
40 better basis than Government securities
~
holders are protected and that is almost All
that the laws OF the land have yet been able
10 make altogether sure in the matter o!
banks. There is Il peril which, in Tn" order OF
Providence, attaches inevitably 20 all the de.
par,ments of trade, and no laws yet devised
have been successful in relieving people OF
that peril. 1t is especially illustrated in
banking perfect protection would only
a L., .,..,,
tons necessary to effect this protection utter
u useless. Trust ard Confidence are clemen Is
Of II liberal and enlarged commerce. They ar,
its .ery life and existence and they rest we'll
upon the wise regulations suggested by eXpr-
ri"nce Of an entcrpriSlnG community them.
selves characterized by regularity, energy,
sasacity. and professional honor and probity.
Financial abuses flourish best in communities
that are themselves loose in morals, and not
duly ScrupulUuS III traffic and money getting.
Where there are many going out for wool IN
this way, some must come back shorn. Evil
devices, when much practiced; are sure 10 re-
turn 10 plagu. tn" inventors. So that, while
no active commerce can be- maintained with
out those elements of Confidence and Trust,
they may be TO some extent considered rs SEN
tincls 10 watch the conduct OF men, and eN-
pose those who deceive 70 the arts of the de
ceiv"r.
The banking institutions Of the country are
amcnable 10 these principles. They are best
conducted and best guarded where there is ~
honest commerce and Il well-regulatcd trade
They, too, as well rs individuals, must b,
trusted. But how much better is il not 10 hay,
such institutions, with their regularly chosen
directors, with their periodical accoun liability
and their open transactions, which enable ri
To be upon their guard and fully TO post them
selves concerning their interests, than TO bt
driven to put trust In private bankers and
spectators, whose dealings are IN the dark
and whose schemes embrace 50 many objects
besides those of mere banking?
The United States Government, therefore,
IN destroying the banks, will not be able 10
give the public any substitute for them that
good upon the country. Until the resumption
OF specie payment, the banking upon Tie basis
of the public credit is the best that we can
have. i is as secure as banking can be, ana
OF the capital absorbed III the national bonds
in loans for the conducting of the business of
the country. The crusade against them, there
fore, Is uuwlSc and injurious, and, we doubt
not, based upon the selfish and inscriptions
motives of great moncycd interests, which seek
still further to Cypress the nation 10 crafty
4 rapaciou2 and Unsuitable avarice.