74 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



SEPT. 9 [,4 . 



at pleasure; otherwise they become liable to ilis- 'us suppose an c.xtretiie case. We have no hesita- 

 trust, depreciation and fliicliiation, which subjects tion in saying- that the Bank should, by any sacri- 

 the holder to serious and o^t^■ntirnes ruinous losses, j tice whatever, meet its demands punctually, fully 

 No bank can maintain it.s notes at par value where | and exactly. Failure or refusal to do this, should 

 there is any question of the al'ility and readiness of I never come into 'ts calculations. We know many 

 the bank to redeem lliem according to their tenor, j high-minded merchants, men of whom it is only 

 In the original incorporation of b.inks in the 1 just to say,' they rank among the nobles of the land. 

 Commonwealth, this was perfectly understood and I who act only and fully upon thefe principles. They 

 provided for. There were men en;raged in the es- would not fail or suspend, while they had any means 

 tablishment of the first banks, who had passed i of avoiding such an occurrence. In the late dif- 

 throuffh all the miserable fluctuations of the revo- i ficult crisis they made most tremendous sacrifices, 

 liitionarv currency ; and many of whom had pun- i by paying exorbitant interest to the Jews and sharp- 

 gent recollections of these times, without doubt, in ( ers, who hung round them like the Cossacks upon 

 piles of this pictured government money lying in the Hanks of Napcdeon's army in his reticat from 

 their drawers, which perhaps had fallen in their \ Moscow. They might liave suspeiidi'd, but they 

 hands to a value less than t'le paper on which its ; felt their mercantile honor, which they vahied next 

 nominal value was enstumped. On this account it i to their lives, was at stake, and they would not, 

 was provided in the general banking law, that be- ; while they could, ward off the blow, though it might 

 fore a bank went into operation, two thirds of its j require in order to maintain their honor, the sur- 

 capital should be "bona fide paid in in gold and render of the Inst (JolLar, the hard earnings of many 

 filver, to he liepi there for the iise of the hank.'" — ; a year's labor and toil. 



This provision still remains on the statute book. ■ A bank surely should art upon as high princi- 

 Had it been always enforced, we should never have pies of right and duly. Unless by some wholly 

 heard of the failure of banks or the suspension of; unlooked for emergency, such as the sudden break- 



specie payments. Nor would the public have ever 

 suffered loss or inconvenience from this, what some 

 would term, hording the specie; because this spe- 



ing out ot a war, or revolution in the government, 

 a bank should consider a failure or suspension im- 

 possible. We use the terms as synonymous. A 



cie might always be represented by the bills of the j suspension of specie payments from inability to 

 bank, which under such circumstances, being al- ' meet its demands exactly according to their tenor, 



ways convertible into specie at pleasure, would, as 

 a currency, be lar more convenient than specie. 



We lay it down as a fixed principle, that a bank 

 ought never to fail. A suspension of specie pay- 

 ments, a refusal to pay its notes in specie on de- 

 mand, agreeably to their tenor, is a failure; is a 

 bankruptcy in every sense of the word. The dis- 



is bankruptcy ; and its efiects are always disas 

 trous ; first in the depreciation of its stock, and 

 second in the depreciation of its bills or notes, by 

 which suft'ering and loss aie often widely and se- 

 verely extended ; and lastly in the general distrust 

 which it at once creates towards all banking insti- 

 tutions and all paper currency. When a bank as- 



cussion ot the question by the batiks whether they sumes the right to suspend at its pleasure, and 

 shall suspend specie payments, and how long thi'y i gravely, with an arrogrance which we hardly choose 



shall continue this suspension, and when they shall 

 resume, and how far they shall resume, is an out- 

 rage upon all justice and right ; and so far from be- 

 ing countenanced or commended, ought to be sig- 

 nally rebuked and visited with the apvenst retri- 

 bution of the laws. 



If it be said that there is not specie enough in 

 tlie country on which to found such a system of 

 banking, then it seems we have not the capital for 

 secure and lu'nest banking : and ought not to have 

 a bank, which cannot thus provide for itself; or 

 otherwise we ought to seek foreign capital, which 

 would always be to be had, if full confidence could 

 be placed in our system of banking. It is because 

 our system of state banking, I do not limit the re- 

 mark to Massachusetts, has .been justly deemed en- 

 tirely insecure, that our f?tato bank stocks find lit- 

 tle or no market in Europe. 



But it may be asked, to put an extreme case, 

 suppose a bank with one hundred and fitly thou- 

 sand dollars capital, and the full amount discount- 

 ed should be run upon for specie. Upon our sup- 

 position she has but one hundred thousand dollars 

 in specie to pay with if called upon. Now in the 

 first place no such run is likely to take place, cer- 



to designate, in defiance of law and right, chooses 

 to discuss the question of how long tlie suspension 

 shall continue, we should like to inquire whether 

 its customers are at liberty to act upon-the same 

 principle ; and whether its heaviest debtors will be 

 spared and indulged when they choose at their 

 pleasure to suspend the payment of their notes 

 which the bank has discounted ? Shall a corpo- 

 ration, enjoying singular privileges in the commu- 

 nity, be allowed to violate all principles of commer- 

 cial honor and right in a case where an individual 

 in debt to the same corporation, would be held to 

 the extreme rigor of the law, and be degraded 

 from the liigb standing which ho occupied, if he 

 failed to meet his engagements? It is not enough 

 in such case to say the bank is secure ; its means 

 are ample, and it will presently meet all its engage- 

 ments. This may not be generally known, or may 

 not secure universal confidence. Its stock and its 

 notes are at once depreciated ; and those who hold 

 them cannot v\'ait for an ultimate settlement, and 

 must dispose of them at a most serious loss. At 

 the failure of the Commonwealth Bank in Boston, 

 for example, thousands and thousands of its bills 

 were sold at 50 per cent, discount; though it was 



are not estimated as they ought to he. If the ef- 

 fects of a failure to meet his engagements exactly j 

 and iniuctually, were always limited to an Individ- 

 ual, the evils of failure would be comparatively iri- '■ 

 fling. But it is not so. In an active business ] 

 community, men of business are desirous to employ 

 all the means they can command. They incur ob- j 

 ligations on the presumpticm that the obligations of , 

 others to themselves will be punctually fulfilled. 

 These obligations are spread in infinite ramifications , 

 like net-work over the whole community. A fail- ' 

 uie in one case may be felt throughout the whole, 

 and the negligence, or inadverleuce, or want of 

 punctnality in some single individual, may bring ! 

 inconvenience and ruin upon thousands. 



We say, therefore, that a bank should not fail. 

 It should not allow itself to be put into a condition 

 to fail. Such a contingency should be hardly 

 within the limits of possibility. The banks never 

 would have failed and never would fail, if they 

 strictly conformed to the provisions of the law as to 

 the amount of specie in their vaults. But the an- 

 swer to this is that the banks then could never do 

 any business, and that there is not specie enough 

 for these purposes. Then it seems in the first 

 place we have too many banks, or otherwise they 

 would do business to the extent of their capital, and 

 this is all they ever should do. If in the next 

 place we have not specie enough, then it seems the 

 capital is actually wanting on which alone a secure 

 banking system can rest. A bank should take no 

 extraordinary risks. It is of no advantage to the 

 community and seldom to the individuals them- 

 selves, to loan money to those persons whose credit 

 is in any measure suspicious or uncertain. We 

 know at least one bank in the State, to its high 

 praise be it spoken, which, we believe, has in the 

 course of twenty years of banking, never lost a 

 single dollar from its creditors. 'J his shows a 

 vigilance, a rigid adherence to fixed rules and 

 punctuality and sound judgment in the manage- 

 ment, which are worthy of all praise. There is 

 little danger of the failure of such a bank. 



August 28. H. C. 



tainly if other banks are managed on the same just, i well known that under the law rendering the stock- 

 honorable and legal principles. If atteinpled it i holders responsible to the amount of their shares, 

 could not be done at once without giving si'mo it was not probable there would be any eventual 

 time for the bank to provide for such an emergen- | loss upon them. The stock of the United States 

 cy. But the thing itself is scarcely possible, as it j Bank, much of which was bought at V^'y dollars ))er 

 supposes all the notes of the banks to be cimcen- : share, owing to its suspension has commanded only 

 trated in a few hands; or a conspiracy among the : .'iti dollars in the market. How many of its stock- 

 holders of the bills ti effect the ruin of the bank, a holders must be utterly mined by such a result, 

 thing which will not happen, unless the bank by its ; Honor and punctuality are the soul of a cominer- 

 misconduct brings itself under suspicion. But let ' cia! community. It ia much to be feared that they 



Mutton Broth for tht Sick. — Have a pound and a 

 half of a neck or hiin of mutt(ui ; take of}" the skin 

 and the fat, and put it into a sauce-pan ; cover it 

 with cold water, (it will take about a quart to a 

 pound of meat,) let it simmer very gently and skim 

 it well ; cover it up, and set it over a moderate fire, 

 where it may stand gently stowing for about an 

 hour ; then strain it of!'. It should be allowed to 

 become cold, when all the greasy particles will 

 float on the surface, and becoming hard, can be 

 easily taken off, and the settlings will remain at 

 the bottom. N. B. — We direct the meat to be 

 done no more than just sufficiently to be eaten ; so 

 a sick man may have plenty of good broth for noth- 

 ing ; as by this manner of producing it, the meat 

 furnishes a good family meal. This is an inoffen- 

 sive nourishment for sick persons, and the only 

 mutton broth that should be given to convalescents, 

 whose constitutions require replenishing with res- 

 torative aliment of easy digestion. The common 

 way of making it with roots, onions, sweet herbs, 

 &c. &c. is too strong for weak stomachs. Plain 

 broth will agree with a delicate stomach, when the 

 least addition of other Ingredients would immedi- 

 ately ofTond it. 



How can a farmer expect to gain wealth who con- 

 sumes all he raises and runs in debt for all he baya 



