The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-06-16
THE ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST
THE NATIONAL BANK ACT.

account for and against our National
Bank act. II is astonishing to see how
enormously the arguments against IT pre-
| ponderate over those for IL. II would be
enough TO rest the argument against II
upon the single fact that IT allows some
men TO enjoy the inestimable blessing Of
issuing their promissory notes against
their property. In any quantities that
their business requires. while 1t wholly
! denies this privilege to all other members
| OF society. This ability to use ones credit
/ I'm the transaction OF business is the most
/ important right that a citizen can possess.
| There is not, and in the nature Of things
there cannot be. and it is not desirable
that there should be- enough cash for all
men TO have the quantity necessary TO
offectlng all the transactions that they
engage in with cash. No man can conduct
any business whatever without using the
credit which the property that he owns
gives 10 him. The National Bank act
limits and abridges the right Of the citi-
zen 10 make use Of his credit. II says
that no man shall put out his promissory
notes with the design that they shall
pass around freely amongst his neighbors
as representatives OF money unless he
first deposits with the Government more
of its bonds than the notes he is going
TO put out amount 10. This confines the
right Of issuing these notes to those few
persons who have Government bonds and
denies TO the great body Of citizens their
natural right to use their property and
credit TO the best advantage possible-to
any advantage at ALL The indictment
against the National Bank act is COM
plete when this case is stated.
The arguments for the National Bank
act are these: The first is that it gives
paper currency that passes at par all
over the Union. We have frequently
shown that this quality in it makes all
Of it desirable in the city Of New York;
that New York bids therefore for all Of
it and gets all Of it, as no other place can
bid against her, and thereby leaves all
the rest Of the country destitute. This
quality therefore converts the national
bank currency into a curse to all the coun-
try except New York. our supposed
blessing therefore is what kills us. Nor
are the great body of the people con-
cerned with the fact that the notes all
pass at par in all parts Of the Union.
This fact is a great convenience TO those
who travel from State TO State, but only
q small fraction Of the population does
this. The great body Of the people stay
i'm their States year in and year out.
What circulates freely in their neighbor-
hood is all that the body Of the people
want. SO that this quality possessed by
the national currency is one whose bless
ing are theoretical only and without a
particle Of practical value to the people at
large.
The next argument for the act is that
it requires banks to keep always on hand
a fixed sum as a reserve against deposits
and circulation. No man with sense or
knowledge enough TO claim any attention
whatever TO what he says would argue
that a bank should fail to keep always on
hand a good and sufficient reserve. 1t !
would be as sensible as to argue that a
general should fight battle without n
reserve. The question though, Is. what
reserve should be kept? Should it be a
reserve which law fixes by a hard and
fast line that is never, under any circum-
stances, TO be encroached on. or, is il TO
be that reserve which a prudent and
sagacious man. managing the affairs OF
the bank. thinks necessary and sufficient
for the uses and requirements Of the in
stitution? If the former then, in easy
times, the bank Is denied the right TO
earn money by using that part Of its
fund. when 1t could do so prohtably, and
with no sort Of peril. In hard times it is
denied the right TO make that use Of every
dollar Of its resources which may be
financial collapse. The supposed safety
precaution Is turned therefore into an
engine for the destruction Of the institu-
ton.
a sufficient number Of spies, called ex-
aminers, to convert, by their espionage.
dishonest into honest men, and thereby to
secure observance Of that hard and fast
rule of respecting a preservation Of the
legal reserve that will insure the banks
failure If an emergency arises that re-
quires IT TO use every dollar Of its re-
sources 10 protect its credit. We do not
see that We need make any answer TO
this the third argument for the act. It's
statement is enough. on the whole we
can canddly say that we think the Ma
tional Bank act, after the Sherman Silver
law, the most disastrous piece Of legisla-
ton that the American people have ever
had inflicted on them.
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THE PRIMARY.
The Times article yesterday on the pri-
mary has been misunderstood by some