New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-02-21

| ppriOds shows that, so 1ar IroHi "i'"-
holding proper accommodations TO the business
world. the banks have been if anything too
generous in responding to the wants OF trade.
We observe that Mr. Chittcndcn intimates as
much. They have not by any means lald vio-
lent hands on their debtors and compelled
them TO break or pay. The total OF the us
counts and advances on the 18th OF Deem
Der is sc, 800, 900 greater than it was in Dc
cember, 1874, and $4,000 greater than
on September -, 1879, just before the
panic. Whatever criticisms may be passed on
! these loans and discounts it cannot be sald
that they indicate contraction or any violent
effort on the part of the banks to " save them
selves by destroying all around them
Let us now turn to the deposits. According
to the unanimous testimony of all the anthori-
| ties on this subject, practical and theoretlc,
the deposits will temporarily increa il the
banks by imprudent lans endeavor to force
out their funds, but in the absence OF snch
efforts they will vary at the will OF the indl
| yiduals to whom they belong. II A. has a
thousand dollars in bank No. ! he may with
draw it and pay a thousand dollars which he
owes to bank No. 2, or he may use 1t up III
paying is hired clip, or lock it up or 10 what
he pleases wi h it. If he pays debt to
bank, loans and deposits both VIII decrease
n thousand dollars and the fact will be regis
| tered when the statements OF tho two banks
arc put together. If he owes nothing to banks,
but pays his hired man and puts money Ill
circulation deposits alone will decrease.
4 COMPARISON of the bank statements shows
that during the year 1875 the net deposits Of
all kinds did decrease So, 100000, surprising
the checks, Sc, reported as on hand to have
been presented and charged Of. II would have
been a better showing if the loans had shown
a corresponding decrease. instead of the slight
increase they do show, compared with
year ago. But if this had been the
case. wo should have not only Mr..
Kelley aud his school. but thousands
of other men, denouncins the banks
for breaking up the business OF The country,
producing the hard times and otherwise mar
ring the perfect happiness and prosperity OF
the Union. We call special attention TO the
fact that the banks have rs yet refused no
legitimate accommodation to those who couid
show a GOOD title To- it. Yet the hard times
have been with Us for two years. Therefore
it is not the banks who are responsible for
them by their refusal to discount.
But if the people in their sovereign capacity
choose TO draw down their bank accounts, II
men retire from business and cease To need
the facilities OF checks and discounts, and II
the wicked creditor elects to eat bcefsteak IN
stead of saving his income to lend out ut the
risk of beng repaid in dssigndfs, 1t Is inevita-
bic that the loans of the banks must Ill tha'
case diminish, otherwise the dcpositors could
Nj be paid. Considering the state OF the
country, il is almost certain that loans VIII
very soon begin TO move downward with de-
posts. What thens Shall We initiate the vol
who charged the lamb with iouling the
brook. though the water in its descent
had not yet passed the gentler beast 7
There may be what Ar. Chittonden
calls lin no inyidious scnsc) "a sharp conirac-
"uon." but if there should be- the people them
selves viii be the moving force. The banks
will act in Il very subordinate capacity, unless
they prove to have been much worse managed
than vet appcars The great banks of England,
France, and Germany, all show dlmlnution
in their loans, - compared with Two or three
wears ago and il is az natural that this should
be so as that the mercury should Iali on
cold day. Tho thermouieicr however, IL not
the regulator of the weather ana we trust that
tho majority ia Congress will soon get through
ascrbin1 the hard times Ia what is merely IN
indication OF them. whether it be the slight
contraction OF the currency which has taken
place within the Last eighteen months. or the
contraction of bank loans which must sooner
or later mark the depression of business.
We must correct an error OF Mr. kelley's.
France does not wisely ~ unwisely, keep
atioat her war issncs until " f0vOrable bal
lance of trade brings Into the country nm
"caua amount of gold AMI silver The de
-irlction of the war is nes, which ha- now
reached one sixth pert OF them, created cur
REM OF bullion toward France, III spite oi the
very conference.-the balance of that famous trade
with Germany. But ~ tho Bank OF France
has fixed on Jan. /, 1873, for rcSump;ion
and has the hard money on hand to resume
Tomorrow without disturbance il it wishes to-
Mr.. Kelley in his pegoration. gracefully falls
in with Mr.. Shuckcrs. or rather with
Tom Paine and William Cobbett-the latter
borrowed the idea from Pane-that we shall
never, nerer. NEVER resume until the. Public
Debt il extinct! Paine and Cobbett were
bold enough to predict in PLAN words the re-
pudiation of the British debt. after the fashion
ret by the original fabrIcators of the dSsi9ndi.
Do Mcssrs. Shuckcrs and Kelley follow Paine
and Goblet in that comforting belief Com
siStency requires il of them.