Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-09-02
The reverse reads
From the New York Tribune.
National and Private Banks.

War upon the national banking system doe. not
mean mischief to capitalists. 1t means permanent
harm to borrowers, producers, and laborers espec-
tally ip the smaller towns and the agricultural re-
gions In short, the very people who camor most
for the overthrow of that system would be most
harmed by it. BY students of finance, it has long
been recognized as the peculiar characteristic of
that science that it is full of parsdoxes; the obvi
Gus truth 10 usually falsehood, and the appar.
emily inevitable result is precisely that which al
most never follows. Hence ii is that the shallow
reasoners are almost always at fault, and the leg
islators and politicians who act upon what seem
to them "self-evident truths" and have in view
"obvious consequences" in nearly every case ar
rive at results precisely opposite TO those intended
They meant TO initiate the currency when the
"free banking clause was fastened upon the Re.
sumption Act; the actual result was contraction.
They meant to raise the price of silver bullion
when they passed the Silver Bill the actual re.
suit has been to lower the price. They meant BY
the issue of silver. to increase the circulation the
actual result has been to diminish the amou Mt of
paper in circulation, while the silver flows back
into the Treasury in place Of gold almost as fast
as it 10 issued. SO they mean to strike q blow at
money-ienuers ana bankers Dy repeal OF the
Bank Act, and to benefit laborers, producers, and
especially farmers. The result, if they succeed,
will be disastrous chiefly to those whom they de.
sire to aid
All over the country. under the operation of
the National Banking Act, small hanks have been
established away from the chief commercial CEN
tres. aud in places where the business would not
suffice to render profitable bank having no ad.
vantage of circulation. Thus the number of
banks has been greatly increased. In 1860 there
lwr I ka,x h. -. Al
are over 1000 national banks, besides 633 State
banks, and about 400 private banks, and in many
parts of the country the banks which supply the
needs of smaller towns aud agricultural
counties are almost all organized on the ma
tional system. ms not unnatural for
it is known that the mode of organization and
the supervision by the United States official,
render these banks safer than sny ever Organized
under State laws and UNNECESSARILY safer. as a
rule, than the private banking houses which start
up places of limited business. Men who have
real capital TO invest in banking in such localities
and intend to it so prudently that they need not
fear the visits of government inspectors are very
likely to prefer the National system with all il.
restraints and with the advantage of circulation
which, in agricultural regions and small towns is
of more value than in the large commercial
cities. Because of this advantage, and because
such banks are believed to be peculiarly safe. the
National banks have increased in numb, rapidlv
without banking facilities, or exposed to all the
risks incident to complete dependence upon unre.
strained snd unreg Mated private banks.
Let the system be abolished and the change
will hardly be felt ny the captalists of the lsrxer
cities 10 respect to their facilities for The employ
msnt or the borrowing OF money. Doubtless all
the national banks now doing business In this