THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



441 



sysii'in ol' trade or baukinia: thai can possibly he 

 devised. 'I'o vvliatever poiiiis ilic course u( trade, 

 or operaiioii oC taxation and disl)ur.scmeni, with- 

 out a nalit'iial t)aiik, or any baid<r:, will direct and 

 accunuilaie balances of specie, the same will 

 be the direction and accuinuhiiioii if a national 

 specie-paying banii and branches: existed. For 

 tlu»u<:ii the balances should be in banii- notes, 

 lliese notes would require to be paiti in specie, as 

 the lirst siep towards seituni£ ilie balances. The 

 subsiiuiiion ol paper rnoi.cy adds anuiher link to 

 ihe chain of circulation, and may somewhat de- 

 lay ihe final resull. But the result will finallv 

 be ihe same. IT a United Slates bank should be 

 established this session, witn 40 or 50 brandies, 

 in the hrsi place it will not, and cannot, make the 



notes of an undoubtedly solvent and honestly pay- 

 in<f bank should lind iheir way lo a disiani elate, 

 their market value would he known by relerence 

 to any broker's list, or prices current, and the liiir 

 value of the notes could be obtained, deducting 

 ihe necessary profit to the exchanger. 



JJut if bank notes are not truly redcemabi e 

 then of course ihey will depreciate, and -depart the 

 more widely iron) a " unilorm currency" in pro- 

 |)oriion to the distrust ol their value by the public. 

 Anti such will be still the case with the notes ol' 

 all non-specie-paying state banks, even if a United 

 States bank existed— and such would be the case 

 with the United States Bank iiseli; i/' it were not 

 a specie-fiaying bank. But herein again we run 

 loul ol two other popular and prevalent fallacies, 



and Arkansas, and F orida, were worth as much 

 in the city ol New York as those of the city 

 branch, thai very equality oivalue (or the nearVsi 

 possible approach to it) would serve but lo brinif 

 the notes ol' distant branches more speedily ami 

 in greater quaniity to New York, in the regular 

 course ol' trade. The branch there would soon 

 be overwhelmed with the notes ol distant branch- 

 es, and would necessarily have to return them, or 

 the tialauces that could not be dis[)osed ol in trade, 

 lor specie. And the specie thus required to be 

 traiisporied, (a (irocess which paper-nK-ney men 

 proems su much to abhor,) would t)e just as much 

 as il paper nu.ney had not existed ; mdeed more, 

 il paper money had served to stimulate and in 



ly compel 



also lo pay specie. A lew words will suffice to 

 expose the emptiness ol these pretensions. 



A national bank, supported and upheld by the 

 revenue and the credit ol the federal governmem, 

 must indeed be so powerful, and [-ervading in influ- 

 ence, as to withstand dangers, disasters and Ibes, 

 ihat would prostrate the credit ol' any bank or 

 banks not so sustained. Notwithstanding, it was 

 due to good loriune and accident, and not to any 

 inherent virtue ol a national charter, that both the 

 two lornier United Slates banks continued to pay 

 specie throughout their existence. Either bank 

 would ccriainly and necessarily have stopped pay- 

 ment, il' its charier had continued but three 



crease either leiriiimate trade or wild speculation. K®^''^ onL^er. And the last bank was upon the 

 A n.itioual bank, therelbre, is not needed |br I""'"' "'.^'OPP'"^ Pisyiient years beloie the expira- 

 Ihe purposes at.ove considered, and Ibr which!""",*'' its charter, and belore any hostile action 



pur[)o*es alone most ol' its deluded and hnnesi ad- 

 vocates desire the establishment. It would, in- 

 deed, be a powerful and adndrable poliiical en- 

 gine for the purposes of those who could wield 

 ns iiiHiiences. It will do wonders in iranjierring 

 wealth Irom the posses-sion ol' those whose honest 

 in'dusiry had eariied it, to that ol speculators, stock- 

 jobbers and legalized swindlers ol' all sorts. But, 

 however desirable lor these pur(ioses, to the class- 

 es to whom it oHers such advantages, a national 

 bank is not needed to equalize exchanges, or to 

 liiinish a uniform currency, or lo lessen the ex- 

 pense, or beneficially lacilitale the iransleriing of 

 the revenue and funds of government. 



No currency but gold and silver can possibly 

 have the same value at every pai i of an extensive 

 country; and even if the currency were ol gold 

 and silver, or ol paper convertible on demand 

 somewhere to gold or silver, still exchange (that 

 is, the cost of translerrence ofl'unds) must cost some- 

 thing, and therelbre some premium would have 

 to be paid for drafts. But though a perfectly uni- 

 form currency is a vain liincy, and periiict equaliza- 

 tion of exchanges is impossible, still the necessa- 

 ry diflierences and inequalities would be so small 

 as to be unimportant, and of no practical evil, if 

 the general and stale governments had not created, 

 or sustained by their indulgence, a depreciated 

 paper currency. I( the currency were either oi' 

 specie, or oi' paper truly mid fullif convertible to 

 specie, at the points where issued, ihe price of ex- 

 change would never be considerable, even though 

 there were no other than state banks. If the 

 Vol. IX. -39 



ol the government iiad commenced, or was anti- 

 cipated, and without any cause except the impro- 

 per and Iraudulent acts of its own authorities. 

 The unexpected arrival of but ^100,000 in specie 

 alone prevented the mother ban-k suspending pay- 

 ment the next morning. The occurrence ol war 

 with any powerfiil enemy, and its necessary 

 pressure on trade and finances, will never ftiil to 

 cause a United States bank (if a bank of circula- 

 tion) to Slop payment. And this inevitable stop- 

 page would take place precisely when it would 

 be most disastrous to Ihe country ; and when ut- 

 lerly impossible to be remedied, or punished, by 

 any legislation or other action of government. 



It ie true that a United Stales bank can exert 

 great power in compelling state banks to pay 

 specie lor their notes, so long as they profess to pay 

 them, and are anxious to maintain that character. 

 But il the government of a stale, Virginia lor ex- 

 ample, chooses that its banks shalTbe/orcec? lo 

 pay specie honestly, there is no need of resorting 

 to the agency and Ibreign aid of a United States 

 bank, it would be sufficient that the government 

 should not protect ihe banks in their fraudulent 

 relusal to pay their notes — to merely let ihera 

 meet the general legal destiny of debtors, whe- 

 ther honest or li-auduleni — and all our banks would 

 be specie-paying immediately, and otherwise as 

 honest as the law sho'ild require and compel. 

 But as the government ol this and almost every 

 other state south and west of New York, have 

 chosen to sustain their banks in the long continued 

 refusrd to pay their notes and debts, they will con- 



