Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1885-01-23
The National Banks.

| al VI IuC SuilSuSS VI tueSc oauh lloill Gil
culation will he attended with much dan
ger to trade and commerce, and various
measures have been proposed, in and out
Of Congress, looking to the preservation
of the National Banking System.
1t is maintained by Senator Sherman
that it will not be safe for commercial
community to rely exclusively upon coin
and coin certificates for its currency, be-
cause the coin may be exported and great
contraction may be thus occasioned, where
as the supply of national bank notes, II is
maintained, can be, and have been so re-
gulated as to meet the wants of trade and
preserve uniform supply of the circulat-
ing medium. On the other hand, it is
commended by some of the wise men who
think that the National Banks may we'll
be permitted Ito GO that, as The notes of
these banks are redeemab'e, on demand,
in coin, the expectation of coin. to which
the learned Senator refers, would neccssa-
rily have its direct effect upon that cur
rency in the way Of contracting its volume.
While it is obvious that the National
Bank notes, like all other Legitimate pa
per currency whose value is merely repre-
sentative, are so intimately related to the
amount of specie in the country as not for
any length of time to postpone the depress-
ing effect of balance of trade against US,
there is yet much force in the argument
Of Mr.. Sherman. Although these bank
notes are redeemable on demand in coin,
it is fact we'll known to financial men
that there are many times in every com
merical country when the amount of
specie available in the country would not
be sufficient 10 redeem all the outstanding
representative currency yet The confidence
which the people have in the representa-
tive currency keeps it in circulation and
trade goes on smoothly and without inter
ruption or depression. While, therefore,
this representative circulating medium,
furnished by the National Banks, would
not be equal to the great work Of per-
manently avoiding the disastrous effect of
a long sustained balance of trade against
this country, it would doubtless. as i. has
done, prove efficacious in rendering the
arteries of trade and commerce insensible
TO transient fluctuations in the supply Of
specie in the country. Thus it ac's as
great fly wheel on the financial machine,
regulating the irregularity of the macbin-
cry AID coun' eracting the spasmodic action
of the motive power.
1t was 10 this sense. no doubt. that Mr..
Sherman referred to the advantages of the
currency afforded by the National Banks,
and not as panacea for the great evil re-
sulting from hampered commerce. The
great and deep seated malsdy which vi
cious commercial legislation and hamper
ing Tariff laws bring upon the body poll
tic cannot be eradicated by any such ex
temporaneous treatment as is afforded by
any regulation of the currency of the coun-
try. This can only be etfectua'ly cured by
the political doctors at Washington knit
| ing the corroding cancer known as the
Protective System" at its root and re-
moving the great ulcer with all its extend
ed roots from the decaying commerce of
the coustry. Then the balance Of trade
will regulate Itself and country OF such
vast resources as tho United States need
have no fears in that regard. Its temper
airy fluctuations would be, like the tran
silent irregularities in The trade winds
harmless to the prosperity and uniformity
of trade
The greatest and most impor ant advan
tage of the National Bank no es, however,
and one which has been generally appre-
ciated throughout the country, is their
uniform currency in all rhe States of the
Union. In this respect they have proved
vastly superior rs circulating medium
to the notes of the old private State banks.
whose value was for the most par, local
in its character. But this advantage, i'm
portant and desirable as it is, is not, it Is
believed, sufficiently great to war; ant Con-
gress in bestowing upon the National
Banks the extensive franchises which they
have heretofore enjoyed and which they
now demand to be still further extended.
The people are not willing that they
should be bribed by Congress to issue
their circulation. Their extensive and
monopolistic privileges have heretofore
been source of much jealousy in the
country and the temper of the people de-
mands that they should be diminished
rather than increased. There can be no
doubt that the National Bank currency
can be permitted to retire and still, if all
other things are favorable, the country
will survive
The opinion Is expressed by men whose
Judgment is entitled to high respect that
, a proper and available substitute for the
currency of the National Banks will De
found in treasury notes, issued by he Gen
eral Government, to be legal tender for
private debts, but redeemab in coin, on
demand upon the government This cur.
rency would possess all the virtues of the
: National Bank notes and none of their
vices or those OF the fiat money contended
for by the "Greenbackers
The Court of Appeals of Maryland in a
recent decision Che indexing case from
Montgomery county,, says the Wicorlico
Record, clearly limits and defines the pow
ers of Boards of County Commissioners in
! making appropriations and paying claims
and also determines that any tax payer
can upon his own motion stop any unau-