THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



317 



ing lioiise of Mr. Pettus, wore munlcred in the iiis;ht, 

 by persons who had secreted themselves in tlie buitii- 

 ing, tor the purpose of robber}', and the house then set 

 fire to conceal tlie nairders. Tiie nuiin object of the 

 murderers failed, as they were unable to break into 

 the lire-proof iron safe, or vault, which contained 

 ,*r20(),()00 worth of money and other valuable pa- 

 pers, and which were not injured by the fire, though liie 

 safe was exposed to a prodigious degree of iieat. The 

 villains have as yet escapeti even suspicion. A re- 

 ward of more than .^oOOO is od'ered for their detection. 

 This deplorable and liorrible event has caused a pro- 

 found sensation, and general comuiiseration lor the la- 

 mentetl sulferers and their relatives. 



" The explosion [of the United States Bank] has 

 revealed the demoralization of banking, and the vil- 

 lany of human nature. The more we see of it, the 

 more we are satisfied that banking has been reduced 

 to a system of bribery, lying, false-swearing, and ac- 

 tual robbery of the poor and innocent. To say no- 

 thing of the thousand stockholders in both worlds, 

 thus reduced to beggary, the famous Girard Fund is 

 also annihilated, and the splendid Girard College 

 will have to remain unfinished, a modern Parthenon 

 in ruins, emblematic of the banking system, and 

 the classic mausoleum to its memory and rnanes."- 

 " Certainly the United States Bank has been badly, 

 dishonestly, and foolishly managed ; but we do not be- 

 lieve there exists a bank throughout the country, that 

 has been conducted on any other principles. TIte in- 

 herent error is in the system. It is a system of credu- 

 lity, mystery, deception, fiaud and roguery, from bo- 

 ginning to end. It corrupts the heart — it destroys all 

 principle — and saps the foundation of all honesty in 

 society. The United States Bardc has not b^en a 

 more marked fraud upon the world than any other 

 bank — it is only greater in ])roportion to its capital. 

 Nicholas Biddle is not a worse man than any other 

 man in Wall street connected with, or administering a 

 system that is concerned in swindling, sin, iniquity, 

 mystery, and midnight robbery." 



"The banking system will go down, and all those 

 who hang upon it will soon be looked upon as fit in- 

 mates for the state prison. The misery and poverty 

 which have overtaken the poor deluded stockholders 

 of the United States Bank — men, women and children 

 — will assuredly overtake tlie stockholders of eveiy 

 bank in this or any other country. The explosion of 

 the English banking system will astonish the world 

 one of these days. It will revolutionize tiiat count ly 

 — as our series of explosions since 1837 have ravoiu- 

 tionized this country." — N. Y. Herald. 



"The Governor of South Carolina has instructed 

 the Attorney General of that state to institute legal 

 proceedings against the banks that have refused com- 

 pliance with the law amending their charters. Pro- 

 ceedings have accordingly been instituted by the 

 Attorney General to vacate the charters of the recu- 

 sant banks. These are the Bank of Charleston, the 

 Bank of South Carolina, and the State Bank." 



A person employed by the Camden (N.J.) Bank 

 to convey money to Philadelphia has retained ^i.3,0()(). 



McLeod has been brought in custody to the city of 

 New York, upon a writ of habeas corpus. 



The United States Bank has assigned property of 

 the (nominal) value of 7 millions to trustees to secure 

 the payment of debts due to other banks. 



The people of Mallolo, the island of the Fijee trroup, 

 where Lieut. Underwood and Midshipman Hen- 

 ry, of the exploring squadron, were murdered, were 

 attacked by the crews of the squadron, many killed, 

 and the survivors reduced to complete submission. 



" Fanny Elssler is said to have cleared upwards of 

 $■65,000 by her visit to the south. •' 



The OcmulgO(.' (Ga.) Bank " has suffered a protest 

 of its notes, and notice of the |irotest had been Ibr- 

 warded to the Governor. The ellect of this intelli- 

 gence has been a decline in the value of the notes of 

 tlie bank, and further infoiuiation is anxiously await- 

 ed." — Charleston Fat. 



McLcod may be said to be at large in New York, 

 being merely attended in his walks l)y the sheriff. It 

 may therefore be peifeclly well understood that his dis- 

 charge, in some way or othei-, is a settled matter. 



The New Orleans Bee mentions another case of 

 "defalcation" in that city. A teller and a book-keeper 

 of one of the banks had taken .'jf-75,000, and had ab- 

 sconded. 



"The Bank of Chilicothe, Ohio, with specie in its 

 vaults, according to its published statements, of more 

 than double the amount ol its circulation, suspended 

 specie payments on the 26th ult. Wherefore, then, the 

 people will ask, does the bank refuse redeeming its 

 notes, when its means so far exceed tlie deinands 

 that would be made by the note holders.' The ques- 

 tion is fully answered by the mention of the fact that 

 the Fund Commissioners of the state have been au- 

 thorized to borrow for furnishing the public works, 

 two and a half millions of dollars ! And that the Bank 

 of Chilicothe has agreed to furnish of this loan, five 

 hundred and eighty one thousand dollars cf their own 

 paper ! Having been so very kind to the state, who 

 would think of holding it culpable for a suspension? 

 Besides, it is now in a fit condition to double the 

 amount of the loan whenever the interest of the peo- 

 ple may require it. The bank can now strengthen 

 itself by .selling one hundred and fifty thousand dollars 

 of specie, at a premium of about fifteen per cent., 

 which will make the snug little sum of twenty thou- 

 sand five hundred dollars. But this is only a little 

 spice money. The interest of the loan (so called) at 

 SIX per cent., would amount to thirty four thousand 

 eight hundred and sixty dollars a year. Who can tail 

 to see the great hencfils resulting to the community 

 from such a magnanimous system of banking?" 



Important neivs by last night's mail.— The last vetoed 

 Pennsylvjinia bank-bill has been reconsidered, and 

 passed by two-thirds of both houses, (May 4th,) and 

 therefore is now the law. This astonishing result was 

 pioduced by the sudden change, at the last pinch, of 

 votes of a sufficient ntuaber of Uieiidiers who«|iad be- 

 fore throughout, and up to the last moment, ''on princi- 

 ple," opposed tliis bill, and all such measures. Very pow- 

 erful inducements must have been presented to these men 

 tu cause so sudden and radical a change of their pod- 

 lion. This monstrous law authorizes the continued 

 suspension of specie-payments for five years, expressli/; 

 and, by certain consequence, though not expressly, the 

 authorized suspension is made in fact perpetual. Per- 

 haps it is all for the best, that the bankrupt banking 

 system should thus be at once brought to its very 

 worst extremes, and that too by the act cf a bankrupt 

 government, as that of Pennsylvania was, even before 

 the passage of this ruinous Jaw. ^ 



This measure will have most important consequences 

 to Virginia, and indeed all the other states. Our bank 

 men have pronounced, as an unquestionable truth, that 

 whenever the Pennsylvania banks suspend payment, 

 those of Virginia must suspend — and this doctrine has 

 been heretofore acted upon by the banks, the legisla- 

 ture, and the submissive people, in all cases. //' // be 

 /'■'"'.(which we altogether deny,) then the ba"nks of 

 V^irginia now must also contimie non-paying, for five 

 years, or for ever; or rather, (and which will be in a 

 much shorter time,) until the whole system shall sink 

 in its own rottenness, or is wiped off from our laws 

 and our coimfiy, because of the still increased iniquity 

 and infamous procedure, wliich may now be exp» cted 

 to follow. 



