316 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



^ain and crew took passage in a Spanish brig bound to 

 Havana, tlien lying in port. The negroes were taken 

 possession of by the authorities of tlie island." 



The Great Western steam-ship arrived at New Yoi k, 

 on the 24th, bringing English accounts to the 8th. No 

 public news of importance. 



The President steam-ship, from New-Yoik, had not 

 arrived in England, nor been heard of; and so great 

 was the lear tiiat it hail been lost, that insurance had 

 been effected, and that too some days before the sailing 

 of the Great Western, as highas 25 per cent, premium. 



The grand jury have iound a true bill against Ma- 

 dame Restell, the advertising abortion-producer, for 

 manslaughter. She awaits her trial Ln jail. 



Drake, the murderer of a whole family in South- 

 ampton, Virginia, has been condemned to death. 



It is understood that the Florida war has been re- 

 newed by the savages, and that the plan of purchas- 

 ing their consent to emigrate, for the greater number, 

 has failed. 



The swindling member of congress. Mitchell, had 

 put his pursuers on a false scent, and gone to Canada, 

 He was arrrested in Montreal, but. Idee most other of 

 the aristocratic class of swindlers, was discharged 

 because of want of power in the law to punish. 



The Church Record, (edited by Dr Hawks,) instating 

 and commenting on some of the " business operations" 

 of Mr. Biddle, (former president,) Mr. Cowperthwaite 

 (late cashier) and other main conductors of tlie Unit- 

 ed States Bank, makes the following true and well 

 applied remarks: 



"The all-absorbing topic in our community, for 

 some days past, has been the appalling disclosures of 

 the long smothered misdoings in the administration of 

 the Bank of the United States. De))lorab!e as these 

 violations of trust must be, in their ellccts, upon the 

 numerous individuals who are pecuniary sulFerers 

 from them — upon our national character, for honor, 

 and probity in business transactions, upon our credit 

 throughout the commercial world — and upon the con- 

 fidence of our own people in like institutions ; they ar« 

 infinitely more deplorable in the proofs they furnish, 

 of want of principle, and a deadened mora! sense 

 among us, in relation to all such matters. If the state- 

 ments in the report of the stockholders' committee 

 are substantiallj' correct, many of the charges against 

 the officers of the bank are not to be considered as 

 mere abuses of trust; they are criminal offences; 

 which, in any otlier country but ours, would have 

 subjected them to indictment for fraud." — "Who 

 can reflect upon such conduct in men, holding the 

 most important trusts connected with the business 

 interests of this great commercial country, and enjoy- 

 ing the unlimited confidence of the public, without 

 the deepest sorrow and humility, and the gloomie§t 

 fears. Does it not prove, that we have brought down 

 our standard of moral integrity to the lowest point — 

 that we have discarded the restraints of honesty, from 

 our dealings with our fellow men, and the obligations 

 of Christianity, from our codes of duty?" 



A batch of successful frauds, by means of forged 

 drafts, apparently from the Commercial Bank of New 

 Orleans, have been lately perp;'trated in rapid succes- 

 sion upon three or lour different banks, to the amount 

 jf about .570, 000, much the greater part of which the 

 ['rawer has secured and decamped with. Precisely 

 'milar operations were attempted, simultaneously, 

 -ipon four or five other banks, for very large amounts, 

 which barely failed of being as successful as the others, 

 '"'he nomme de guerre under which this operator fust appf^ar- 

 .;d was W. M. Parker, oILondon, with an alias for every other 

 uifferent draft. Unless, indeed, his letters of credit, or drafts, 

 were really written in the (Joniinercial Bank of New Orleans, 

 'ny a coadjutor in hiiih otiice and enjoying perfect confidence, 

 t^»e forgeries are so perfect as to seem almost miracilous.' We ex- 

 pect to hear, in a day or two, that some oflicer of that bank, of 

 the highest respectability, is on his way to Te.xas. At any rate, 

 whether so aided or not, this Mr. Parker is certainly the Napo- 

 ieon of swindlers, (at least of those so called.) and one of 

 i\\c most able, artlul, and bold and covl operators, by means of 



banking facilities, who has ever e.xljibited skill in financiering. 

 What a lanieiitaiiln misdirection and waste of great talent! 

 The proper sphere of nction for this man would have been the 

 office of president, and ruling spirit, of some great bank. In 

 such a couiinanding position, he would have had ample scope 

 to exercise his great talents and strong propensities, for the be- 

 nefit of iha bank, and of himself also ; and general applausp, 

 and high reputation, might have been his meed, instead of his 

 character now acquired, and hazards incurred. 



A statement of the condition of the Farmers' Bank of 

 Virginia, (iiK-luding all its branches,) which is. manifestly 

 ' official,'' •<i\i]ieartM\ in two of tin; llichinond papers of the 30tli. 

 It says that " the profits of the bank amount to a sum equal, 

 within a small fraction, to 10 per cent of the entire capital." 

 This report is up to April 1, and we presume is for the 12 

 nionths preceding. Now, instead ot the bank authorities tlius 

 boastingly exhibiting these large profits, made during a time of 

 continued suspension of payniunts, tlii;y ought to be ashamed of 

 them, as being the measure ofnnjnstgain, made at the expense of, 

 and by defrauding the holders of their notes, and other credi- 

 tors. Ruring all tliis time, anil now, because of the refusal to 

 pay them, the notes of this bank have been depreciated 4 to 5 

 per cent. Now if as much of the bank capital as yielded 4 of the 

 10 per cent, of profits,(orthe excess above the legal interest, and 

 the full, usual and fair profit of money capital,) had been used by 

 the bank to buy specie, with which to pay its notes, and main- 

 tain specie payments, instead of reaping a profit from the dis- 

 credit and depreciation of their notes, then the present state- 

 ment would, it is true, have shown only 6 per cent, of profit ; 

 but it would also have shown a sense of honesty, moral and 

 legal obligation, and of responsibility, and the proper results 

 of all these, of which their actual statement " of 10 per cent, 

 profits,'" shows a total deficiency. But what bank, if permit- 

 ted, and backed by the government, will not continue to re- 

 fuse to pay specie, and thus to violate faith, truth, and 

 honesty, 10 any extent, to gain even so little as 4 per cent, of 

 additional profit .' 



Saiurday, May S,ISU. 



The banking house of the Branch Exchange Bank 

 in Richmond, now in the course of construction, will 

 be a splendid and beautiful edifice — and will remain 

 one of the most durable and striking monuments of 

 the sway of our plundering and prodigal banking sys- 

 tem, long after the consummation of its approaching 

 prostration and destrurfiou. And yet, if looking not 

 to the beauty, but to the object and use of this build- 

 ing, theie is seen a strange and even ludicrous want of 

 fitness of means to ends. There will be seen massive 

 granite columns of enormous size and strength, which 

 will have almost nothing of weight to sustain, or of 

 service to perform ; and while the whole amount of 

 specie belonging to this bank is only sixty-three thou- 

 sand dollars, a stronghold is built to keep it safe that 

 will cost more than half that amount; and a sumptu- 

 ous palace, whose beauty is merely to please the eye 

 of the pidilic, is erected by a corporation which exists 

 only by pillaging and defrauding that same public, and 

 which would be bankrupt (the old and true term for 

 svspcndiiifc pai/ment) iryoiyerf///, as well as really, if the 

 bank were not guarded by the dishonesty of the laws 

 from being compelled to comply with its just and ho- 

 nest obligations to its creditors. • 



The Governor of Pennsylvania has opposed his 

 veto, for the third time this session, to another bill 

 passed by the legislature for relieving the banks — that 

 is, to authorize the banks of Pennsylvania, like those 

 of Virginia, to act free from all penalty or responsi- 

 bility for their violation of their obligations under law, 

 iustice, and honesty. Another hill was immediately 

 prepared and passed the lower house. We trust that 

 it will fare no better than its predecessors. 



All tlie public works, in canals, railways and roads, 

 of Pennsylvania, which cost the state forty millions 

 of dollars, together yield less annual income, by about 

 half a million of dollars, than the annual expenses. 

 This is " internal improvement," with a vengeance ! 



The repairs of damages to the Savannah and Macon 

 Railway, caused liy the recent unprecedented freshets, 

 have been rigorously prosecuted, and are nearly com- 

 pleted, and the whole 135 miles of before finished road 

 will soon be in use. 



A horr'ible crime has been recently committed in 

 St. Louis, Mo. Tv\o young gentlemen, Baker and 

 Weaver, attached to and lodgers in the private bank- 



