The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1882-06-23
National Banks.

N8t1OnBA ob0Abs
A great part of the political stock in trade
of the Greenback party, has always been to
raise hue and cry against national banks
and TO try and create prejudice against
these institutions, i'll the minds of people,
who, perhaps, have neither time nor oppor-
tunity to investigate for themselves the truth
or falsity of the assertions made concerning
our national banking system. Just at the
present time many of the Democratic papers
of the country, evidently for the purpose of
counting favor of the Greenbackers, are
adopting the same tactics, hoping, no doubt,
to effect some sort of coalition with them,
70 induce them if possible to unite with
them against the Republican party, which
they regard as n common enemy. Our
Democratic friends are evidently ready TO
combine with anything or anybody if, per-
chance, they may possibly secure any share
however small, of the political leaves and
fishes, and so they join in the cry for the
substitution of legal tender government notes
in the place of national bank currency, some
of the Democratic papers going so far as to
say that nearly the entire Democratic party
of this State would be willing to stand upon
the Greenback declaration of principles, us
no doubt they would, if they were anywise
sure they could win 10y so doing.
One great objection to the system of ma
tional banks is its alleged cost to the people
Does any one believe that the borrower could
obtain money for any less rate of interest, or
on less security if the lender were supplying
him with government notes instead of ma
tional bank notes? Under the present sys-
fem of banking, parties wishing TO start a
hank must own or purchase at least $4,000
of government bonds. These bonds are
debt which the government has promised to
pay and it costs the people not cent more
10 pay them, if they are used for banking
purposes, than when owned by any one else,
but as soon as they are thus used, they make
the bank note absolutely secure in the hands
VI the holder, and il costs the government
nothing to redeem the notes in case of the
failure of the banks. And these bonds also
become at once, indirectly subject of tax
alton, which they would not otherwise be.
AIha ,,anarat ,,oyar,v,a,t io~e "a J,,4, &c o,o
half of one per cent, in January aud July of
each year, upon the average circulation of
each bank and an annual duty Of one-half of
one per cent per annum ON the average
amount of deposits, and tho same duty on
the amount of its capital stock over and
above that which is invested in bonds. The
amount of this tax il over $3,000,000 per
year. The government also has the benefit
Of ail the bank notes lost or destroyed. Thus
1t clearly appears that the system is, not
only, not an expensive one, but that il is n
source of large revenue 10 the government
In addition to all this the shares of the bank
stock are subject to State, county, town and
all kinds of municipal taxation the same as
other property, and vast sum is received
from the banks in this way. There is no
other kind of property which, all in all, is az
heavily taxed ~ national bank capital. Strike
down this system, abolish the national banks
let the government issue all the currency
and at once is wiped out of existence, for
the purposes of taxation, hundreds OF
millions of taxable property and vast de.
iicit made in the public revenue, which will
have to be filled by taxes on some other
kinds OF property. and which the people al