27G
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION;
a sufficiency for the establishment of two Banks and indeed not suffi- cient for one in consequence of which supposeing we grant this charter and establish another Bank and that the specie is equally . divided between the two and the consequence is that both will be compeled to go into opperation with a Paper Capital and neither will have or can have Specie to take up their notes with by author- izing the establishment of another Bank therefore at this time and under these circumstances you are sanctioning nn imposition upon th~ People and fostering and ·encouraging a system of speculation whose opperations if not seasonably checked will involve the Country in confusion, anarchy, and ruin, the esooblishmeut of another Bank Sir will by overstocking the circulation of the Country with paper money be productive of most serious e\Tils for I. lay down as an undeniable proposition and one which I think I can demonstrate to the satisfaction of this House that overstocking the circulation of any Country with Paper will have a direct tendency to drive almost every dollar in specie [out] of it we will suppose that it requires 300,000 hundred thousand Dolls to supply the circulation of this Territory and I am extremely doubtfull wheither it will require that much for it is to [be] observed that the quantity of money necessary to supply the circulation of any country and t.o carry on the opera- tions of trade bear no lcind of proportion to the amount of property actually bought and-sold in as much as the same money may in the course of one day represent ten times its value in property by pass- ing through different peoples hands-thus for instance ten Doll•· may serve me to buy that amount of property and perhaps in five :Minutes after it serves another the same purpose and thus in the course of a day represents property to the amt of some 100s or perhaps 1000s of Doll"· the circulateing medium therefore necessary for any Country bears no kind of proportion to the amount of commodities vended from the great disproportion therefore which the circulateing Medium necessary for any Country bears to its productions and the quantity of Commodities vended in it I am led to the conclution that 300 000 Doll• would be togeather with forreign notes amply sufficient to supply the circulation of this and the adjoining Terri- tory Suppose these Notes were emitted from the two Banks to the amount of Eight hundred thousand Dollars ~ich is the amt. they are entitled to emit by their charters and there would be an excess in the circulation of 600 000 Doll.. and Sir let me ask you what is to become of it, will you send it abroad to seek a .rp.arket in the circula- tion of other States the Credit of these Banks be assured sir will never be such as to insure the circulation of their Notes abroad at par and sir if so as the circuJation of every part of the U. S. is already supplied with Bank [paper] _and when the National Bank
Powered by FlippingBook