Year: 1861

tied" to common Lomo. fIOM tulS ume
onward, tho prices which The. money bro
1zera will pay for the one sort or another is
the only measure Of its value, Eighty cents
hare ceased to be dollar.


But we are not through with stump-tal
y,t. There remain in the hands Of the
people and in the banks, subject by agree
ment, to drifts, not less than six millions
of the stuff which only day or two ago,
was used as money. The problem is now
to realize out Of thst the largest possible
amount at the smallest possible cost, And
in ho1pipg the innocent holders Of these
notes out Of the scrape in which they ind
themselves involved, the Bank Conn,is.
sloners have duty to discharge that they
cannot avoid. The brokers' Offices are al
ready opened for the purchase Of Illinois
currency at rates far below its actual ynl-
ne; and we hear that arrangements have
been made by parties in New York,
for buying on an extensive scale, at
prices which will make them fortunes
in the liberal margins which they claim
Tor profit. We have no idea Of interfering
with their business, which is ! legitimate
ou'growth Of a vicious banking system;
but We shall not cease to call upon the
officers appointed by the banking law, to
protect the peoples interest," to act with
promptucss and vieor, and 50 as to make the
loss 10 the business men, farmers, mechanics
and ]aborers, of the state,as light as posi-
ble. By the law as it now stands, al banks re-
flslrg to pay specie arc Inble TO protest;
but the holder Of one hundred or one
thousand dollars Of the nstes of the Bank


g Ssnmrt.H, located forty miles from any
white inhabitant, does not care to incur
the cost Of proceedings necessary to make
his protest effective. Tie expenses Of lis
Journey to the place, and the fees of officers
and lawyers, would terrify him at the out
sct, and be would gladly tak ke ten or TWEEN
ty per cent less than the actual value Of
his currency, for the sake Of having it con-
verted into solid sash. But the Bank Com
mlssioners can, as they ought, make cali
On all the banks Of the State to make good
their securities within the shortest time
specified by the law, and such of them rs
refuse to heed the invitation can be put
into instant liquidation; and aa soon as
the forfeiture of their securities is an
nounced by the Auditor, any holder Of
requisite amount Of their notes may send
it TO that officer at Springfield, and it
he chooses take therefor q Thousand
dollar State Bond which he may dispose
OF al his leisure and. at the market price.
Where the securities are mixed, and the
Auditor himself must put them in the
market and realise the proceeds of the
eale for distribution, the percentage accru-
1ng to the hlll-holder will be much greater
than that offered BY the brokers who have
already commenced buying this money in.
The people own the greater part of the
securities now in the Auditors hands, and
it is manifestly the duty Of the official con-
servators Of their interest to put them in
the way Of getting the greatest attainablc
amount Of gold out Of their notes and in
the shortest and most expeditions way.
The owI ers Of the banks will
not be allowed to consider the adop-
lion Of this course as any hardship.
They have nlready got their pay for their
bonds; and though they may not again
see their ten per cent. margins, put up as nd
didcnal security, they ought not to object to
sharing with the rest Of community the
losses which this banking system has en-
tailed. Again, many Of them are abun-
dantly able, and unqueshonably will be
willing, to make their securities good.
There are several such in this city who
would not willingly sell their bonds at pre-
sent prices, and who might possibly, if all
the wildcats were out Of the way, do
legitimate banking business as was o1igi-
nal1y contemplated by the law. Having
the. ability to do, their failure, and such
losses as may follow, will be chargeable to
themselves alone.


We appeal then to the Bank Commits
slonerE to make the call at once. They
wall find plentiful reasons why they should
do 80. They will save the people from
loss greater still than that which they have
already suffered; they will close out and
shut down all banks started, not for legiti-
1nste business, but as currency making ma
chimes; they will put bill-holders in pos
session Of the ready cash necessary to do
the business Of the State, and they Will give
Legitimate bankers u chance to show what
possibilities Of good there are in the sys-
TEN low broken down with crash, Let
ps have the call!