The Wichita daily eagle., 1891-11-19
TIE BANK OF ENGLAND.

after, in America at least all the money is
to be issued by governments So let US
take hasty glance at the banks of mod
ern times, note their evolution and their
very curious ups and downs. The impor-
tant fact, and a most suggestive one it is,
is that nearly all the great banks of the
world originated in times of war and con-
fusion, debased money and widespread
bankruptcy. Finance appears to be one OF
the things in which mankind in general
only learn by the most painful experience,
and never 20 right until they have eX-
hausted all possible modes of going wrong.
First in time, and long the model, was
the Bank of Venice, which was founded in
III and fell with the republic in 1797-a
life of 626 years. The Bank of Genoa got
into full operation in 1907. The Bank of
Amsterdam was established in 1909, the
Bank of Hamburg in 1919, the Bank of
Rotterdam in 1885, the Bank of Stockholm
in $685. the Bank of England in 1894. the
Bank of Scotland in 1885, and then the
world took a rest on banking. Indeed,
there was a reaction. France went through
her wild financial spree with John Law,
and almost every one of the American
colonies experimental in paper money with
amazing recklessness.
The Revolution brought matters to a
head by the simple process of sending all
the money to pot. The Colonial financiers
had proved that the new nation could not
go through the war on a coin basis, but the
paper money went to nothing before the
war was half over, and then, with all the
added difficulties, they managed somehow
to get on to q coin basis to finish the war.
The resulting debate was red hot both in
congress and without, but the outcome
was that early in 1871 the act establishing
the first Bank of the United States passed,
the capital allowed being $10,000000, of
which $4,000 600 was in effect taken by the
United States as an individual.
The seat of the bank was at Philadelphia,
with power in the president and directors
to establish branches elsewhere for dis
count, deposit and redemption of the
banks notes. This bank expired by limita-
tion March 4, 1911, and then there was an
other hot fight over a recharter. The
country went through the war of 1812-15 in
little better shape than through the Revo-
lution-and but little. On the 4th Of
March, 1916, the bill creating the second
Bank of the United States passed the house
of representatives bya vote of so to II, after
litical history, in which the parties almost
completely changed sides. All the leading
Federalists opposed it, but Clay and Cal
houn forced it through.
Its capital was but $35, 900, yet 1t
scared a whole generation of Americans
into "jeeminy fits" II ran the politics of
the nation for q dozen years, and after
whipping every body else Nicholas Biddle,
the president, and his coadjutors were rash
enough to tackle Andrew Jackson, and
were crushed, of course. The bank fell
with great ruin, and there was chaos till
the next ;sreat war, when the present sys-
tenn was adopted. In the meantime France
had run the same round of legal tender
paper money, but in much shorter period,
and in 1903 the present Bank of France
was established.
A very entertaining book might be COM
piled Of the arguments for each of the ma
tional banks named, but there would be
some danger of monotony in the style, for
the same arguments have been repeated
for 800 years and often in almost the same
words. The reasons urged in Venice were,
Exhaustion consequent on the long war
and the necessity Of making personal credit
quickly available for the necessities OF the
state in an emergency" For a long time
there was only transfer of credits on the
books of the bank, then bills certifying to
the holders credit there were issued, and
finally these bills passed as money. The
bank established a coin standard, and all