Year: 1861

deIstand the pface Of certificates and bank
or bankers credits. ado you suppose I
tm:going to buy lug Of gold every time
! have hundred or five hundred dollars
IL pay Or receiver" "Just as you please,
friend. If you trust bank of fiction
with your credit NON, you r,ay trust q; bull
lion bank with your money then, your
check is available in either case" This
is 4 very common colloquy between the
parties to this controversy. In truth, how
ever, there would be less movement of :
gold, inconreniently, or at cost. under
specie currency than there is at present,
because, excepting the California supply,
it would move all one way with tue In
crease of commodities; it would flow into
the country and remain. And the country
can retain the California supply also for
several years, by suppressing the debt cur
rcncy, the consequence being an increase
Of The production OF commodities to take |
the place Of gold in the export trade, until
the volume Of our currency is filed with
7noney-a clear addition Of capital and busi-
ness with every step in this direction.
Eighteen dollars and sirty cents in gold
weigh an ounce, and a double eagle is the
weight Of a light four bladed penknife
which one carries in his pocket without
feelingit In England, no bank notes are
issued or allowed Of less denomination
than .15re pounds equal to $244 $244.3333-and 80 no
body complains Of the Inconvenience Of
landing gold there. The visitor from this
country is rare who does not feel and
acknowledge the absence Of our filthy shin
plasters to..be q relief in England He
must be frantic and-bullionist, Or obtuse
in vision, touch and smell, IS well as in
association OF ideas, who can approve Of
our small bank notes afteir their usual
round Of circulation. They are greasy
with the buther's lard, gluey with: the
grocer's molasses, and bcsmeared with every
imaginable daub and offence Of the dram
shop and the brcthel. One can never be sure
that he is not pocketing the small pox, itch
or yellow fever, one or all combined, with
these dirty things in his port monnaie
Bah! Who is it that prefers them to clean
discs Of god, mpregnable to pollution,
and inyincible IN panics? The bullion
bank ought not to issue certificates paya-
BILE to bearer Of less denomination than
tscenty dollars: but to accommodate custo-
mers for remittance, and to settle accounts
from point to point, it would issue them
for any sum payable to order, from any
number Of cents to thousands Of dollars.
Moreover, the circulating certificate, paya-
ble 10 bearer, ought not to exceed 500;
that sIisk enough in one bill payable to
bearer; and there is an admirable plate
that can be adapted to four separate de-
nominations, ssy 20, 80, 50 and 100 dollars,
in such manner as to preclude the altera-
ton Of lower to a higher denomination
without exposure Of the fraud at sight to
the most unpracticed observer.


The truth cannot be too strongly urged
upon public attention that the currency Of
this country, in its most favorable condi-
tion and locality, has abandoned the solid
ground Of gold and silver, and stands upon
the shifting, frail and frivolous base of bank
loans. Every local expansion of these
cheapens msney precisely dollar for dollar
Of the increase Of currency, causing it to
emigrate to the nearest point of higher
value, and every general increase sends it
out Of the country. Conversely every
local contraction Of these loans, whether
voluntary or involuntary On the part Of the
banks appreciates the value Of money and
brings It back again to the city or district
where the contraction takes place, while
every general contraction III the Country
re.ur-s i. from Europe. Thus, like a shut
uecock, is gold beaten backward and for
ward from one to another city, State or na-
tion at great and unnecessary cost to both
sides; but it never returns from China.
Can our intelligent readers doubt for
momtnt that there is much unnecessary
trouble as well as great and useless cost Of
handling specie under this debt currency
system?


There can te no doubt Of the necessity
for bank credits and certificates, but they
must be granted wholly to accommodate
the public aud not the bank; they must
carry the ownership Of coin and not Of
credit, and Of course must have special
deposit Of coin in reserve, dollar for dol
lar ngainst them, belonging to the owners
Of the credits and certificates and not to
the bank. Mark this point distinctly:
there must be no doubt or uncertainty
he1e-no loophole OF contrivance for fail
ing in their part Of the agreement If the
bank fails, it must be from using up its
capital and the means Of its original de-
positors, and not the money belonging to
the currency. This ought not to and can
rot be guarded against as matter Of debt,
but it can be as matter Of swiudling.
The party lending tie money after he has
loaned its ownership should be punished
as certainly and as severely as q counter
feiter, for bis act has precisely the same
result TO the community as counterfeiting.
There is no such money or value as he has
issued; somebody must lose the amount
in coin exported, and that somebody and
Others, like TOW Of blocks, must fall from
inability to pay that which has no exist
ence. tits like promising to deliver ano-
ther Kohinoor diamond when the only one
in existence is already ssld, and every SUBJ
sequent promise built upon it repeats
the imposGibility. If this thing is done,
it is an entire loss Of capital to the commu-
nifty which permits it The counterfeiter
may issue his note, taking bond and secu-
ritJ that Il called upon to pay it he shall
be put IN funds for the purpose, and afford
as much accommodation as a bank Of fic-
ton. Startling as it may seem, it is 10
greater wrong to the public than the issue
Of note On credit by bank for money it
does not possess; there is price created
by tie issue IN either case that cannot be
paid because it is not rasue;; In plain Sax


on It is lie.


Now whether power like this Of 1oul.


lion bank would be trusted to private


bankers generally, with safety to the public


smore than questionable; the Temptation


to issue fictitious promises, On undoubted


security, would be, we fear, irresistible il


may cases. But we do believe that some


half dozen Of our most reliable citizens