﻿ESAEEY: STATE BANKING IN INDIANA 



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hogs would be packed in the Wabash Valley that season and the 

 failure of currency, he declared, would cost the people $75,000. 

 It meant just so much money out of the pockets of the farmers. 

 Alexander F. Morrison of Marion county who was a member 

 of the assembly in 1834, and then supported the Bank charter, 

 favored free banking in 1850, but would not tie the hands of the 

 legislature too much. 



The discussion was continued for some days by Robert Dale 

 Owen of New Harmony, Mr. Maguire of Indianapolis, Mr. Smith 

 of Ripley, Schuyler Colfax of St. Joseph, Wm. M. Dunn of Madison, 

 William L. Holman of Dearborn, and others. This contest between 

 free bank and state bank men was the longest and most spirited 

 of any during the session. At times the convention was out of the 

 control of its president, and, on one occasion. President Carr dis- 

 missed it in the face of a vote not to adjourn. Members referred to 

 one another as thieves and robbers. But this was only the froth 

 of interest and prejudice scattered here and there over the 

 usually dignified addresses. The long discussion reveals sharply 

 the opinions of the people in regard to the Bank. The chief objec- 

 tions to the State Bank were: (1) It had failed to supply enough 

 currency. (2) It had been partial in lending money to its stock- 

 holders, and it had also favored farmers and stock buyers as against 

 merchants. (3) It had refused its assent to the location of new 

 branches, when business clearly demanded them. (4) It had sus- 

 pended specie payment twice, and had not resumed payment the 

 last time till the state forced it. (5) It had used its power as a 

 monopoly and had almost defied the state government. (6) As all 

 sound banks must do, it had made enemies of the large numbers 

 of those who wanted credit and could not give sufficient security. 



On the other hand the teachings of Jackson were against paper 

 currency, state banks, and monopolies. Many Whigs were opposed 

 to paper money and voted against the Bank, and some Democrats, 

 like Hendricks, favored it. The demand for more money is always 

 popular and crept out in nearly every speech in favor of free banks. 

 It is to be pointed out that the conditions of business, and the 

 needs of the day, had more to do with forming the opinion of the 

 convention than an intelligent, statesmanlike understanding of 

 bahking. 



The results of these constitutional labors were expressed in 

 fourteen sections, a summary of which is here given: 



"Constitution of Indiana, adopted 1851. 



