The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1895-01-10
The WAY PUBLIC
DEBTS ARE MADE.
The History of The Formation Of
The English Debt--A Warn
ing to The United States.
THE DANGEROUS POWER OF
BANKS.

M Country Can be safe That Pat. Itself
-to The Hand. Of The Hank~rs---Nh hat
TIA. Been Nav he Again fnr"srned. IL
For-armed---i.~t Mt The Lessons Of His
tory he Thrown A"aSs
Editorial in Richmond Times.
The business of he United States
s in condition of disorder thai Ell
fects all interests most dlsastrousl,,
aud all because our law-mak ers hay.
for thirty five years deliberately ig
nored and departed from the Con-
stitutlon Of our Government, which
provided for the Amt rican people
the sinlp Q, plan and only safe fran
cial plan-that the GoverDmel t
shall coin the preciots meJe.s IL
proportions that make the coins OF
one as valuable in the market as the
coins Of the other, stamp on each
coin the number of grains of metal
that it contains, end all connections
at that point with the finances of the
country, and leave all men after that
to make such contracts III respect to
that coin as they please, and to pass
them off to such persons as are will
ing to take them.
When this Constitution was franz
ed, and our Government was organ
ized under it, we commenced our
career as nation with due regard
for it's finan cial plan. General AL
exander Hamilton, a monarchist at
heart, as General Washington's Sec
rotary of the Treasury, at once
switched it off to schenle for paper
money, by which strong and splen-
did centralized government might
make the money classes its interested
allies. The Democratic spirit Of
the people finally overthrow and re-
puuiated his monarchical scheme,
and in 1887 it rid the county of it
in the final refusal Of Congress to
recharter the bank of the United
States. The country then returned
to the scheme of the Constitution,
and we lived under it until 1861.
Then came the war, which enabled
the advocates of Hamilton's monar-
chical schemes to set them on foot
again, and we have ever since been
the victims OF protective tariffs
robberies and of paper money sys-
tenn absolutely dominated for their
own advantage by the wealthy class
eS.
! We shall give this morning a bris1
history of the connection of the
bank of the United States with our
finances, that the people may see
what the consequences are when the
plain and simple plan of our Con
stitution is departed from.
! There have been two banks of thu
United States. The plan for the
first was brought forward by Secre
tary Hamilton IN his celebrated re
, port on the finances in 1890. /
does not seem to have been con
, tested on the true ground of object
ion to it, that it was a complete
overthrow of the financial system o.
, the Constitution. Men did not SCI
how fatal it's work would become
That view of the case may have beer
an ortere peuse in their minds, bu
| the objection raised was that tn
r Constitution conferred upon Con
/. gress no power to charter corpora
e ton. After a furious political strug
: gle the objection was over-ruied an.
S the bank was chartered, to expire il
: 1916. The war of 1919 had total
upset all financial conditions, and il
: 1916, when a proposition was brough
f forward to recharter the bank of tn
d United States for twenty years, bu
o little difficulty in passing the act wa
9 encountered. The banks experienc
= during the preceding twenty 81
y years had now made it strong, an
- with new lease of life for twent
n years more, it at once began to sho'
S what it was capable Of doing. 1t
6 capital was 49,, 200, 900, sum equa
o in power to perhaps as much as $500
: 100000 now; the Government was
0 stakeholder to the extent of one
. fifth Of the capital; it put out il
70 notes in vast sums, and they were n
n ceivable in payment of all dues
,. the Government; all the revenues {
e the Government were deposited in i
| and it paid no interest upon tt
Government money that it held
H. was, therefore, gigantic money M
a, nopoly, carrying On the trade ,
y banking upon the revenue aud cred
a. of the United States and with tt
unittd States as partner. Wit
e branches in every State, it is easy
~ See that an institution granted the
privileges and protected in them |
Of the law was power in the land tn
OF nothing else but a majority Of Il
o. people acting together was equal
eS opposing. The president of the bar
stated to a Congressional commits
in AL unguarded moment that "the
are very few banks which might n
til nave oeeA destroyed py an eXertl
of the power of the bank of the u
)e- tel States"
ny ny The inststut ton went on in cts {
( a reer. exciting the alarm of all thin
a ay ing men, but fastening its grip me
lp- and more tightly upon the peop
~; IA until Andrew Jackson was elect
me President in 1928. The chal ter
ut the bank was to expire in 1896, a
de- de- this sturdy Democrat and patr
to knew that unless the country "
W y aroused between that time and Is
pei the bank would interfere in the ell
red red tons in such way as to make t
md Congress of lS36 subservient to
Of wishes. Accordingly, IN his f
message to Congress, General Jas