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That they give to bankrupt and fraudulent' traders a
fictitious credit, which enables them to maintain false ap- pearances, and to extend their impositions: And lastly,
That they have a tendency to banish gold and silver from the country.
There is great reason to believe, that on a close and ean- * did survey," it will be discovered, that these charges, are
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either-without foundation, or that, as far as the evils the* suggest have been found to exist, they have proceeded from other, or partial, or temporary causes 5 are not inhe- rent in the nature, and permanent tendency, of such in- stitutions; or are more than counterbalanced by opposite advantages. This survey Shall be had, in the order in which the charges have been stated. The first of them
IS--*-
That banks serve to increase usury.
It is a truth, which ought not to be denied, that the me- thod of conducting business, which is essential to bank operations, has among us, in particular instances, given occasion to usurious transactions. The punctuality in payments, which they necessarily exact, has sometimes obliged those who have adventured beyond both their ca- pital and credit, to procure money, at any price, and con- sequently to resort to usurers for aid.
But experience and practice gradually bring a cure to this evil. A general habit of punctuality among traders, is the natural consequence of the necessity of observing it with the bank; a circumstance which itself more than compensates for any occasional ill which may have sprung from that necessity, in the particular under consideration. As far, therefore, as traders depend on each other for pe- cuniary supplies, they can calculate their expectations with greater certainty j and are in proportionably less danger of disappointments, which might compel them to have recourse to so pernicious an expedient as that of bor- rowing at usury; the mischiefs of which, after a few ex- amples, naturally inspire great care in all but men of desperate circumstances, to avoid the possibility of being subjected to them. One, and not the least of the evils in- cident to the use of that expedient, if the fact be known, or even strongly suspected, is loss of credit with the bank itself.
The directors of a bank too, though in order to extend its business and its popularity, in the infancy of aa institu- tion, they may be tempted to go farther in accommodation
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than the strict rules of prudence will warrant, grow more
circumspect of course, as its affairs become better estab- lished,, and as the evils of to(C) grea? facility are experi- mentally demonstrated. They become more attentive to the situation and eonduet of those with whom they deal } they observe more narrowly their operations and pursuits*
they economize the credit they give to those of suspicious solidity; they refuse it to those whose eareer is more ma- nifestly hazardous: In a word, in the course of practice,
from the very uature of tilings, the interest, will make it the policy, of a. bank, to succour the -wary and industrious ; to discredit the rash and unthrifty ; to discountenance both usurious lenders and usurious borrowers. - ,
There is a lending view, in which the tendency of banks will be seen to be, to abridge, rather than to promote, usury. This relates to their property of increasing the quantity, and quickening the circulation, of money. If it
he evident, that Usury will prevail or diminish, according to the proportion which the demand for borrowing hears to the quantity of money at market to be lent; whatever has the property just mentioned, whether it be in the shape of paper or coin, by contributing to render the supply more equal to the demand, must tend to counteract the progress of usury.
But bank lending, it is pretended, is an impediment to other kinds of lending; which, by confining the resource of borrowing to a particular class, leaves the rest of the community more destitute, and therefore more exposed to the extortions of usurers. As the profits of bank stock ex- ceed the legal rate of interest, the possessors of money, it is argued, prefer investing it in that article, to lending it at
this rate ; to which there are the additional motives of a more prompt command of the capital, and of more fre- quent and'exact returns, without trouble or perplexity in the collection. This constitutes the second charge which has been enumerated.
The fact on which this charge rests, is not to be admit- ted without several qualifications ; particularly in refer-
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enee to the state of things in this country. . First--The great bulk ofthe stoek of a hank, will consist of the funds of men in trade, among ourselves, and monied foreigners ; the former of whom could not spare their capitals out of their reach, to be invested in loans for long periods, on mort- gages, or personal security; and the latter of whom would not be willing to be subjected to the casualties, delays, and embarrassments, of such a disposition of their money in a distant country. Secondly, There will always be a conside. rable proportion of those who are properly the money lend- ers of a country, who, from that spirit of caution which usually characterizes this description of men, will incline rather to vest their funds in mortgages on real estate, than in the stock of a bank, which they are apt to consider as a moreprecarious security.
These considerations serve in a material degree to nar- row the foundation of the objection, as to the point of fact. But there is a more satisfactory answer to it The effect supposed, as far as it has existence, is temporary. The re- verse of it takes place in the general, and permanent ope- ration of the thing.
The capital of every public bank will of course be re- stricted within a certain defined limit It is the province of legislative prudence so to adjust this limit, that while it will not be tod contracted for the demand, which the course of business may create, and for the security which the pub- lic ought to have for the solidity of the paper which may be issued bytinebank, it will still be within the compass of the pecuniary resources of the community j so that there may be an easy practicability of completing the subscrip- tionstoi t When this is once done, the supposed effect of ne- cessity eeases. There is then no longer- room for the invest, meat of any additional capital. Stock may indeed change hands by one person selling and another buying; but the money which the buyer takes out of the common mass to purchase the stoek, the seller receives and restores to it. Hence the fature surplusses which may accumulate must take their natural course, and lending at interest must go on as if there were no such institution.
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It must indeed flow in a more eopious stream. The hank furnishes an extraordinary supply for borrowers, within its immediate sphere. A larger supply consequent- ly remains for borrowers elsewhere. In proportion as the circulation of the hank is extended, there is an aug- mentation of the aggregate mass of money for answering the aggregate mass of demand. Hence greater facility in obtaining it for every purpose.
It ought not to escape without a remark, that as far as the citizens of oilier countries become adventurers in the bank, there is a positive increase of the gold and silver of the country. It is true, that from this a half- yearly rent' is drawn back, accruing from the dividends upon the stock: but as this rent arises from the employ- ment of the capital, by our own citizens, it is probable, that it is more than replaced by the profits of that employ- ment It is also likely, that a part of it is, in the course of trade; converted into the products of our country: and * it may even prove an incentive, in some cases, to emigra- tion to a country in which the character of- citizen is as easy td be acquired, as it is estimable and important. This view of the subject furnishes an answer to an ob- jection which has been deduced from the circumstance here taken notice of; namely, the income resulting to foreigners from the part of the stock owned by them, which has been represented as- tending to drain'the coun- try of its speeie. In this objection, the original invest- ment of the capita], and the constant use of it afterwards, seem both to have been overlooked.
That banks furnish temptations to over-trading, is the third of the enumerated objections. This must mean, that by affording additional aid to mercantile enterprise, they induce the merchant sometimes to adventure beyond the prudent, or salutary point. But the very statement of the thing shows, that the subject of the charge is an occasional ill, incident to a general good. Credit of every kind, (as a species of which only can bank-lending have the effect'supposed,) must be, in different degrees, charge-
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able with the same inconvenience. It is even applicable to gold and silver, when they abound in circulation. But would it be wise on this account to decry the precious metals; to root out credit j or to prescribe the means' of that enterprise, which is the main spring of trade, and a principal source of national wealth, because it now and then runs into excesses, of which over-trading is one ?
If the abuses of a beneficial thing, are to determine its condemnation, there is scarcely a source of public pros- perity which will not speedily be closed. ' In every case, the evil is to be compared with the good; and in the pre- sent case, sueh a comparison will issue in this, that the
new and increased energies derived to commercial enter- prise, from the aid of banks, are a source of general pro- fit and advantage; which greatly outweigh the partial ills of the over-trading of a few individuals, at particular times, or of numbers in particular conjunctures.
The fourth and fifth charges may be considered toge- ther : These ljelate t6 the aid which is sometimes afford- ed by banks to unskilful adventurers and fraudulent tra- ders. These charges also have some degree of founda- tion | though far less than has been pretended,*and they add to the instances of partial ills, connected with more extensive and overbalancing benefits.
The practice of giving fictitious credit to improper per- sons, is one of those evils which experience, guided by in- terest, speedily corrects. The bank itself is in so much
jeopardy of being a sufferer by it,. that it has the strongest of all inducements to be on its guard. It may not only be injured immediately by the delinquencies of the' per- sons to whom sueh credit is given} but eventually, by the incapacities of others, whom their impositions or fail- ures may have ruined.
Nor is there much danger of a bank's being betrayed into this error from want of information: The directors themselves being for the most part selected from the class of traders, are to be expected to possess individually, an accurate knowledge of the characters and situations of
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those who eome within that description. And they have, in addition to this, the course of dealing of the persons themselves with the bank, to assist their judgment, which is in most cases a good index of the state in which those persons are. The artifices and shifts, which those in desperate or declining circumstances, are obliged to em- ploy to keep up the countenance which the rules of the bank require, and the train of their connexions, are so many prognostics, not difficult to be interpreted, of the fate which awaits them. Hence it not unfrequently hap- pens, that banks are the first to discover the unsoundness of such characters, and by withholding credit, to announce to the public that they are not entitled to i t
If banks, in spite of every precaution, arc sometimes botrayed into giving a false credit to the persons describ- ed ; they more frequently enable honest and industrious men, of small, or perhaps of no capital, to undertake and prosecute business, with advantage to themselves and to the community ; and assist merchants of both capital and credit, who meet with fortuitous and unforeseen shocks, which might, without such helps, prove fatal to them and to others, to make head against their misfortunes, and fi- nally to retrieve their affairs j circumstances which form no inconsiderable encomium on the utility of banks.
But the last, and heaviest eharge, is still to be examin- ed : This, is, that banks tend to banish the gold and silver out of the country.
The force of this objection, rests upon their being aa engine of paper credit, which by furnishing a substitute for the metals, is supposed to promote their exportation. It is an objection, which, if it has any foundation, lies not against banks peculiarly, but against every species of pa-' per credit.
The most common answer given to it is, that the thing supposed is oflittle or no eonseqnenee; that it is immaterial what serves the purpose of money; whether paper, or gold and silver,? that the effect of both upon industry is the same;' and that the intrinsic wealth of a nation is to be
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measured, not by the abundance of the precious metals contained in it, but by the quantity of the productions of its labour and industry.
This answer is not destitute of solidity, though not en- tirely satisfactory. It is certain, that the verification of industry, by a full circulation, with the aid of a. proper and well regulated paper credit, may more than compen- sate for the loss of a part of the gold and silver of a na- tion 5 if the consequence of avoiding that loss, should be a scanty or defective circulation.
But the positive, and permanent increase or decrease of the precious metals in a country, can hardly ever be a matter of indifference. As the commodity taken in lieu of every Other, itis a species of the mosteffective wealth, and as the money of the world, it is of great concern to tjhie state, that it possess a sufficiency of it to face any de- mands which the protection of its external interests may create.
? \:>>-^I^^Xol^fSfeflB<<i>>- seems to admit of another, and a more conclusive answer, which controverts the fact itself. A nation, that has no mines of its own, must derive the pre- cious metals' from others ,? generally speaking,. in ex- change for the products of its labour and industry. The quantity it will possess, ^trill therefore, in the ordinary course . of things, be regulated by the favourable' or un- favourable balance of its trade j that is, by the proportion between its abilities to supply foreigners^and its wants of them; between the amount of its exportation, and that of its importations. Henee the state of its agriculture arid manufactures; the quantity and quality of its labour and industry5 must, in the main, influence and determine, the
increase or decrease of its gold and silver.
If this be true, the inference seems to be, that well con-
stitutedbanks,,favour theincreaseof-thepreciousmetals.
It has been shown, that they augment, in different ways, -
the active capital of a country. This it is, whieh gene- rates employment; which animates and expands labour and industry. Every addition which is made to it, by
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contributing to put in motion a greater quantity of both. , tends to create a greater quantity of the products of both. And by furnishing more materials for exportation, con- duces to a favourable balance of trade, and consequently to the introduction and increase ofgold and silver.
This conclusion appears to be drawn from solid premises: There are, however, objections to be made to it.
It may be said, that as bank paper affords a substitute for specie, it serves to counteract that rigorous necessity for the metals as a medium of circulation, which, in the ease of a wrong balance might restrain, in some degree, their exportation$ and it may be added, that from the same cause, in the same case, it would retard those eco-
nomical and parsimonious reforms in the manner of living, which the scarcity of money is calculated to produce, and which might be necessary to rectify such wrong balance.
There is, perhaps, some truth in both these observa- tions j but they appear to be of a nature rather to form ex- ceptions to the generality of the conclusion, than to over- throw i t The state of things, in which the absolute exi- gencies of circulation can be supposed to resist with any ef- fect the urgent demands for specie which a wrong balance of trade may occasion, presents an extreme ease. And a situation in which a too expensive manner of Hying of a community, compared with its means, can stand in need of a corrective, from distress or necessityj is one whieh perhaps rarely results, but from extraordinary and ad- ventitious causes: such, for example, as a national revo- lution; which unsettles all'the established habits of a people, and inflames the appetite for extravagance, by the illusions of an ideal wealth, engendered by the continual multiplication of a depreciating currency, or some similar cause. . There is good reason to believe, that where the laws are wise and well executed, and the inviolability of property and contracts maintained; the economy of a people will, in the general course of thing*, correspond
with its means.
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The support of industry, is probably in every case* of more consequence towards correcting a wrong balance of trade, than any practicable retrenchments in the expenses of families or individuals; and the stagnation of it would be likely tt> have more effect in prolonging, than any such savings in shortening, its continuance. That stagnation, is a natural consequence of an inadequate medium, which, without the aid of hank circulation, would, in the cases supposed, be severely felt
It also deserves notice* that as the circulation qfa bank is always in a compound ratio to the fund upon which it depends, and to the demand for it 5 and as that fund is it- self affected by the exportation of the metals, there is no danger of its being overstocked, as in the ease of paper issued at the pleasure of tiie government,- or of its pre- venting the consequences of any unfavourable balance from being sufficiently felt to produce the reforms alluded to, as far as circumstances may require aftd admit.
Nothing ewjbe more fellible t than 'the comparisons which have been made between different countries, to il- lustrate the truth of the position under consideration. --- The comparative quantity of gold and silver, in different countries, depends upon an infinite variety of facts and combinations, aU of whieh ought to be known, in order to judge whether tiie existence, or non-existence, of paper currencies, has any share Tto the relative proportions they contain. The mass and value of the productions of the labour and industry of each, compared, with its wants,- the'nature of its establishmenttsabroad 5 the kind of wars in\which it is usually engaged; the relations it bears to theNsountries which are the original possessors of those metals; the privileges it enjoys in their trade j these, and a number of other circumstances, are all to be taken into the account, and render the investigation too complex to justify any reliance on the vague and general surmises, which have been hitherto hazarded on the point.
|n the foregoing discussion, the objection has been cuu- sidered as applying to the permanent expulsion and dhai-
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nutioa of the metals. Their temporary exportation, for particular purposes, has not been contemplated: This, it wast be confessed, is facilitated by banks, from the facul- ty banks possess of supplying their place. But their utili-
ty is in nothing more conspicuous, than in these very eases. They enable the government to pay its foreign debts, and to answer -any exigencies which the external concerns of the community may have produced. They enable the merchant to support his credit, (on which the prosperity of trade depends,) when special circumstances prevent re- mittances in other modes. They enable him also to pro- secute' enterprises, which ultimately tend to an augmenta- tion of the species of wealth in question. It is evident, that gold and silver may often be employed in procuring commodities abroad; which, in a circuitous commerce, re- place the original fund, with considerable addition. But it is net to be inferred from this facility given to tempora- ry exportation, that banks, which are so friendly to trade and industry, are in their general tendency inimical to the increase of the precious metals.
These several views of the subject, appear sufficient to impress a full conviction of the utility of banks, and to demonstrate that they are of great importance, not only in relation to the administration of thefinances,but in the general system >>f the political economy. .
- The judgment of many concerning them has, no doubt, "been perplexed by the misinterpretation of appearances, Which were to be ascribed to other causes. The general devastation of personal property, occasioned by the late war, naturally produced on the one hand, a great demand for money; and on the other, a great deficiency of it to answer the demand. Some injudicious laws, which grew out of the public distresses, by impairing confidence, and causing a part of the inadequate sum in the country to be locked up, aggravated the evil: The dissipated habits, contracted by many individuals during the war, which af- ter the peace plunged them into expenses beyond their in-
comes | the number of adventurers without capital, and in
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many instances without information, who at that epoch rushed into trade, and were obliged to make any sacrifices to support a transient credit; the employment of considera- ble sums in speculations upon the public debt, which from its unsettled state was incapable of becoming itself a sub- stitute: all these circumstances concurring, necessarily led to usurious borrowing; produced most of the inconve- niences, and were the true cause ofmost of the appearances, which, where banks were established, have been by some erroneously placed to their account: a mistake which they might easily have avoided, by turning their eyes towards places where there were none j and where, nevertheless, the same evils would have been perceived to exist, even in a greater degree than where those institutions had ob-
. tained.
These evils have either ceased, or been greatly mitigated.
Their more complete extinction may be looked for from that additional security to property, which the Constitution of idle United States happily gives j (a circumstance of prodigious moment in the scale, both of public and private prosperity,) from the attraction of foreign capital, under the auspices of that security, to be employed upon objects, and in enterprises, for which the state of this country opens a wide and inviting fieldj from the consistency, and sta- bility, which the public debt is fast acquiring, as well in the public opinion at home and abroad, as in fact; from the augmentation of capital, which that circumstance, and the quarfer-yearly payment of interest will afford j and from the more copious' circulation, which will be likely to be created by a well-constituted national bank.
The establishment of banks in this country, seems to be recommended by reasons of a peculiar nature. Previously to the revolution, circulation was in a great measure carri- ed on by paper emitted by the several local governments. In Pennsylvania alone, the quantity of it was near a million and a half of dollars. This auxiliary may be said to be now at an end. And it is gonerally supposed, that there
has been for some time past, a deficiency of circulating
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medium. How far thai deficiency is to be considered as real or imaginary, is not susceptible of demonstration; but there are circumstances and appearances, which, in rela- tion to the country at large, countenance the snpposition of its reality.
The circumstances are, besides the fact just mentioned respecting paper emissions; the vast tracts of waste land, and the little advanced state of manufactures. The pro- gressive settlement of the former, while it promises ample retribution, in the generation of future resources, diminish- es or obstructs, in the mean time, the active wealth of the
country. It not only draws off a part of the circulating money, and places it in a more passive state, hut it diverts into its own channels? a portion of that species of labour and industry, which would otherwise be employed in fur- nishing materials for foreign trade j and which, by contri- buting to a favourable balance, would assist the introduc- tion of specie. In the early periods of new settlements, the settlers not only furnish no surplus for exportation, hut they consume a part of that which is produced by the la- bour of others. The same thing is a cause, that manufac- tures do not advance, or advance slowly. And notwith- standing some hypotheses to the contrary, there are many things to induce a suspicion, that the precious metals will not abound in any country which has not mines, or variety of manufactures. They have been sometimes acquired by
? the sword; but the modern system ofwar has expelled this resource j and it is one upon whieh it is to be* hoped the United States will never be inclined to rely.
The appearances alluded to, are, greater prevaleney of direct barter, in the more interior districts of the country, whieh, however, has been for some time past, gradually lessening; and greater difficulty generally in the advan- tageous alienation of improved real estate$ which also has of late diminished, but is still seriously felt in differ- ent parts of the Union. The difficulty ofgetting money, whieh has been a general complaint, is not added to the number; because it is the complaint of all times, and one
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in which imagination mast ever have too great seope to permit an appeal to it.
If tirn supposition of such a deficiency be in any degree founded ; and some aid to circulation be desirable, it re- mains to inquire what ought to be the nature of that aid i
The emitting of paper money by the authority of go- vernment, is-wisely prohibited to the individual-states, by the national constitution 5 and the spirit of that prohibi- tion ought not he disregarded by the government of the United States. Though paper emissions, under a general authority, might have some advantages set applicable, and be free from some disadvantages whieh are applicable, to the. like emissions by the states separately $ yet they are of a nature so liable to abuse, and it may even be af- firmed,so certain of bejng abused; that the wisdom at the government will be shown in never trusting itself with the use of so seducing and dangerous an expedient. Ik times of tranquillity, it might have no ill consequence | it might even perhaps be managed in a way to be produc- tive of good5 but inigreat and trying emergencies, there is almost a moral certainty of its becoming mischievous. The stamping of paper is an operation so mueh easier than- the laying, of taxes, that a government, in the prac- tice of paper emissions, would rarely fail in any sueh
emergency, to indulge itself too far in the employment of that resource, to avoid as mueh as possible, one less auspi- cious to present popularity. If it should not even be- car- ried so far as to be rendered an absolute bubble, it would at least he likely to be extended to a degree whieh would occasion an inflated and artificial state of tilings, inebm- ~ patible with the regular and prosperous course of the po- litical economy.
Among otiier material differences between a paper cur- rency, issued by the mere authority of government* and one issued by a bank, payable in coin, is this: that in the first case, there is no standard to which an appeal can be made, as to the quantity which will only satisfy, or which will surcharge the circulation: in the last, that standard
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results from the demand. If more should be issued than is necessary, it trill return upon the* bank. Its emissions, as elsewhere intimated, must always be in a compound ratio to the fund and the demand:--Whence it is evident, that there is a limitation in the nature of the thing; while the discretion of the government is the only measure of the extent of the emissions, by its own authority.
This consideration- further illustrates the danger of emissions of that sort, and the preference which is due to bank paper.
The payment of the interest of the publie debt, at tuir- ? teen different places, is a weighty reason, peculiar to our immediate situation, for desiring a bank circulation. -- Without a paper, in general currency, equivalent to gold and silver, a considerable proportion of the specie of the country must always be suspended from circulation, and
left to accumulate, preparatorily to each day of payment; and as often as one approaches, there must in Several ca- ses be an actual transportation of the metals at both ex- pense and risk, from their natural and proper reservoirs, to distant places. This necessity will be felt very in- juriously to the trade of . some of the states; and will em- barrass not a little the operations of the treasury is those states. It will also obstruct those negeciations, between different parts of the Union, by the instrumentality of treasury bills, whieh have already afforded valuable ac- commodations to trade in general.
Assuming ft then- as a consequence, from what has beea said, that, a national bank is a desirable institution, two inquiries emerge---Is there no such institution, already in being, which has a claim to that character, and which supersedes the propriety or necessity of another ? If there be none, what are the principles upon which one ought to be established ?
There are at present three banks in the United States: that of North-Ameiiea>> established in the city of Phila- delphia; that of New-York, established in the eity of New-York; that of Massachusetts, established in the town
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of Boston. Of these three, the first is the only one which has at any time had a direct relation to the government of the United States.
The bank of North-America originated in a resolution of Congress of the 26th of May, 1781, founded upon a proposition of the superintendant of finance, which was afterwards carried into execution by an ordinance of the 31st of December following, entitled, " An ordinance to incorporate the Subscribers to the Bank of North-Ame- rica. "
The aid afforded to the United States bythis institution, during the remaining period of the war, was of essential eonsequence; and its conduct towards them since the
? peace, has not weakened its title to their patronage and favour. So far its pretensions to the character in ques- tion are respectable; but there are circumstances which militate against them; and considerations which indicate the propriety of an establishment on different principles.
The directors of this bank, on behalf of their constitu- ents, have since accepted and acted under a new charier from the state of Pennsylvania, materially varient from their original one; and which so narrows the foundation of the institution, as to render it an incompetent basis for the extensive purposes of a national bank.
The limit assigned by the ordinance of Congress to the stock of the bank, is ten millions of dollars. -The last charter of Pennsylvania confines it to two millions. Ques- tions naturally arise, whether there be not a'direct repug- nancy between two charters so differently circumstanced; and whether the acceptance of the one, is not to be deem-
ed a virtual surrender of the other 1 But perhaps it is neither adviseable nor necessary, to attempt a solution of them.
There is nothing in the acts of Congress, which imply an exclusive right in the institution to which they relate, except during the term of the war. There is therefore nothing, if the public good require it, whieh prevents the establishment of another. It may, however, be irieidW-
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tally remarked, that in the general opinion of the citizens of the United States, the hank of North-America has taken the station of a bank of Pennsylvania only. This is a strong argument for a new institution, or for a reno- vation of the old, to restore it to the situation in which it originally stood, in the view of th/United 8tates.
But though the ordinance of Congress contains no grant of exclusive privileges, there may be room to allege, that the government of the United States ought not, in point of candour and equity, to establish any rival or interfering institution, in prejudice of the one already established ', especially as this has, from services rendered, well-found- ed claims to protection and regard.
The justice of such an observation ought, within proper bounds to be admitted. A new establishment of the sort ought not to be made without cogent and sincere reasons of public good. And in the manner of doing it, every fa- cility should be given to a consolidation of the old with the new, upon terms not injurious to the parties concerned. But there is no ground to maintain, that in a case in which the government has made no condition restricting its au- thority, if ought voluntarily to restrict it, through regard to. the interests of a particular institution, when those of the state dictate a different course; especially too, after such circumstances have intervened, as characterize die actual situation of the bank of North-America.
The inducements to a new disposition of the thing, are now to be considered. The first of them which occurs is, the at least ambiguous situation in which the bank of North-America has placed itself, by the acceptance of its last charter: If this has rendered it the mere bank of a particular state, liable to dissolution at the expiration of fourteen years, to which term the act of that state has restricted its duration; it would be neither fit nor expe- dient, to accept it as-an equivalent for a bank of the. United States.
The restriction of its capital also, which, according to
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the same supposition, cannot be extended beyond two mil- lions of dollars, is a conclusive reason for a different es- tablishment. So small a capital promises neither the re- quisite aid to government, nor the requisite security to the community. It may answer very well the purposes of local accommodation, but is an inadequate foundation for a circulation co-extensive with the United States j em- bracing the whole of their revenues, and affecting every individual into whose hands the paper may come.
And inadequate as such a capital would be to the essen- tial ends of a national bank, it is liable to be rendered still more so, by that principle of the constitution of the bank of North-America, contained equally in its old, and in its new charter, which leaves the increase of the actual capital at anytime, (now far short of the allowed extent,) to the discretion of the directors or stockholders. It is naturally to be expected, that the allurements of an ad- vanced price of stock, and of large dividends, may disin- cline those who are interested, to an extension of capital; from which they will be apt to fear a diminution of profits. And from this circumstance, the interest and accommo- dation of the public, (as well individually as collectively,) are made more subordinate to the interest, real or imagin- ed, of the stockholders, than they oughtto be. It is true, that unless the latter be consulted, there can be no bank, (in the sense at least in which institutions of this kind, worthy of confidence, can be established in this country. ) - But it does hot follow, that this is alone to be consulted, <<r that it even ought to be paramount. Public utility is more truly the object of public banks, than private profit. And it is the business of government, to con- stitute them on such principles, that while the latter will result, in a sufficient degree, to afford competent motives
to engage in them, the former be not made subservient to it, To effect this, a principal object of attention ought to be, to give free scope to tine creation of an ample capital; and with this view, fixing the bounds which are deemed safe and convenient, to leave no discretion either to stop
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short of them, or to over-pass them. The want of this precautioh, in the establishment of the bank of North- America, is a further, and an important . reason, for desir- ing one differently constituted.
There may be room at first sight, for a supposition, that as the profits of the bank will bear a proportion i>> the ex- tent of its operationsj and as, for this reason, the interest of the stockholders will not be disadvantageous^ affected by any necessary augmentations of capitalj there is no cause to apprehend that-they will be indisposed to such augmentations. But most men, in matters of this nature, prefer the certainties they enjoy, to probabilities depend- ing on untried experiments; especially when these pro-
mise rather that they will not be injured, than that they will be benefitted.
From the influence of this principle, and a desire of en- hancing its profits, the directors of a bank will be more apt to overstrain; its . faculties, in. an attempt to face the additional demands which the course of business, may create, than to set on foot new subscriptions, which may hazard a, diminution of the profits, and even a temporary reduction of the price of stock.
Banks are among the best expedients for lowering the rate of interest in a country; but to have this effect, their capitals must be completely equal to all the demands of business, and sueh as will tend to remove the idea, that the 'accommodations they afford, are in any degree fa- vours; an idea very apt to accompany the parsimonious dispensation of contracted funds. In this, as in every other case, the plenty of the commodity ought to beget a. moderation of. the price.
The want of a principle of rotation, in the constitution of the. bank of North-America, is. another argument for a variation of the establishment. Scarcely one of the rea- sons which militate against this principle in the constitu- tion of a country, is applicable to that of a bank; while there are strong reasons in favour of it, in relation to the one, which do not apply to the ether. The knowledge, to
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- bederivedfromexperience,istheonlycircumstancecom- mon to both, which pleads against rotation in the directing officers of a bank.
But the objects of the government of a nation, and those of the government of a bank, are so widely different, as greatly to weaken the foree of that consideration, in re- ference to the latter. Almost every important ease of le- gislation requires, towards a right decision, a general and accurate acquaintance with the affairs of the state; and habits of thinking seldom acquired but from a familiari- ty with public concerns. The administration of a bank, on the contrary, is regulated by a few simple fixed max- im*, the application of which is not difficult to any man of judgment, especially if instructed in the principles of trade. It is in general a constant succession of the same
details.
But though this be the ease, the idea of the advantages
of experience, is not to be slighted: Room ought to be left for the regular transmission of official informationj and for this purpose', the head of the direction ought to be excepted from the principle of rotation. With thisr exception, and with the aid of the information of the sub- ordinate officers, there can be no danger of any ill effects from want of experience, or knowledge; especially as the periodical exclusion ought not to reach the whole of the
directors at one time.
The argument in favour of the principle of rotation is this; that by lessening' the danger of combinations among the directors, to make the institution subservient to party views, or to the accommodation, preferably, of any parti- cular get of men, it will render the public confidence more Arm, stable, and unqualified.
When it is considered, that the directors of a bank are not elected bytinegreat body of the community, in which a diversity of views will naturally prevail, at different con- junctures ; but by a small arid select class of men,' among whom it is far more easy to cultivate a steady adherence to the same persons and objects; and that those directors
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have it in their power so immediately to conciliate, by ob- liging the most influential of this class, it is easy to per- ceive, that without the principle of rotation, changes in that body can rarely happen, but as a concession which they, may themselves think it expedient to make to pub- lie qpinion.
The continual administration of an institution of this kind, by the same persons, will never fail, with or withT out cause, from their conduct* to excite distrust and dis- content. The necessary secrecy of their transactions, gives unlimited scope to imagination to infer that some- thing is, or may be, wrong. And this metdtable mystery is a solid reason for inserting in the constitution of a bank the necessity of a change of- men. As neither the mass of the parties interested, nor the public in general, can be permitted to be witnesses of the interior management of the directors, it is reasonable that both should have that cheek upon their conduct, and that security against
the . preyalency of a partial or pernicious system, which will be produced by the certainty of periodical changes. Sueh too is the delicacy of the credit of a bank, that everything which can. 'fortify. confidence and repel sus- picion, without injuring its operations, ought carefully to be sought after in its formation.
A further consideration in favour of a change, is the improper rule, by which the right of voting for directors is regulated in the plan upon which the bank of North- America "was originally constituted; namely, a vote for each sham, and the want of a rule in the last charter j
unless the silence of it on that point, may signify that every stockholder is to have an equal and a single vote, which would be a rule in a different extreme, not less er- roneous. It is' of importance that a rule should be es- tablished on this head, as it is one of those things which ought not to be left to discretion$ and it is consequently of equal importance, that the rule should be a proper one,
A vote for each share, renders a combination between a few principal stockholders, to monopolize the power and
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benefits of the bank, too easy. An equal vote to each stockholder, however great or small bis interest in the institution, allows not that degree of weight to large stockholders, which it is reasonable they should have, and which perhaps their security, and that of the bank, require. A prudent mean is to be preferred. A conviction ofthis, has produced a by-law of the corporation of the bank of Worth-America, which evidently aims at such a mean. But a reflection arises here, that a like majority with that which enacted this law, may at any moment repeal it.
The last inducement which shall be mentioned, is the want of precautions to guard against a foreign influence insinuating itself into the direction of the bank. It seems scarcely reeoneileable with a due caution, to permit, that any but citizens should be eligible, as directors of a na- tional bank, or that non-resident foreigners should bo able to influence the appointment of directors, by the votes of
their proxies. In the event, however, of an incorpora- tion of the bank of North-America, in the plan, it may be necessary to qualify this principle, so as to leave the right of foreigners, who now hold shares of its stock, un- impaired, but without the power of transmitting the pri- vilege in question, to foreign alienees.
It is to be considered, that such a bank is not a mere matter of private property, but a political machine of the greatest importance to the state.
There are other variations from the constitution of the bank of North-America, not of inconsiderable moment, which appear desirable, but which are not of magnitude enough to claim a preliminary discussion: These will be seen in the plan whieh will be submitted in the sequel.
If the objections which have been stated, to the consti- tution of the bank of North-America, are admitted to be well founded, they will nevertheless not derogate from the merit of the main design, or of the serviees which that bank has rendered, or of the benefits whieh it has produc- ed. The creation of such an institution, at the time it took place, was a measure dictated by wisdom. Its utili-
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ty has been amply evinced hy its 'fruits--American iade- pendenee owes much to it--And it is very conceivable, that reasons of the moment, may have rendered those fea- tures in it inexpedient, which a revision with a permanent view, suggests a| desirable.
The-ordetf of the subject, leads next to an inquiry into the principles upon which a national bank ought to be or- ganized.
Tile situation of the United States naturally inspires a wish, that the form of the institution could admit of a plurality of branches. But various considerations dis- courage from pursuing this idea. The complexity of such a plan would be apt to inspire doubts, which might deter from adventuring hi it: And the practicability of a safe and orderly 'administration, though not to be abandoned as desperate, cannot be made so manifest in perspective, as
to promise the removal of those doubts, or to justify the government in adopting the idea as an original experi- ment. * The most that would seem adviseable, on this pojnt, is to insert a provision, which may lead to it here- after, if experience shall more -clearly demonstrate its utility, and satisfy those/who may have the direction, that it may be adopted with safety. It is eertain, that it would have some advantages, both peculiar and important. . -- Besides more general accommodation, it would lessen the danger of a run upon the bank.
The argument against it is, that each branch must be under a distinct, though subordinate direction, to which a considerable latitude of discretion must of necessity be intrusted. And as the property of the whole institution would be liable for the engagements of each part; that, and its credit, would be at stake upon the prudence of the directors of every part. The mismanagement of either branch might hazard serious disorder in the whole.
Another wish, dictated by the particular situation (C)f the country, is, that the bank could be so constituted as to be made an immediate instrument of loans to the proprietors of land j but this wish alsfryields to the difficulty of awe<<-
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plishing it. Land is alone an unfit fund for a bank circu- lation i If the notes issued upon it were not to be payable in coin, on demand, or at a short date, this would amount to nothing more than a repetition of the paper emissions, which are now exploded by the general voice. If the notes are to be payable in coin, the land must first be converted into it, by sale' or mortgage. The difficulty of effecting the latter, is the very thing which begets the de- sire offindinganother resource; and the former would not be practicable on a sudden emergency, but with sacrifices which, would make the cure worse than the disease. Nei- ther is the idea of constituting the fund partly of coin and partly of land, free from impediments : these two species of property do not, for the most part, unite in the same hands. Will the monied man consent to enter into a part- nership with the landholder, by which the latterjwill share
in the profits which will be made by the money of theformer ? The money, it is evident, will be the agent or efficient cause of the profits--the land can only be regarded as an additional security. It is not difficult to foresee, that an union, on such terms, will not readily be formed. 'If the landholders are to procure the money by sale or mortgage of-a part of their lands, this they can as well do, when the stock consists wholly of money, as if it were to be compounded of money and land.
To procure for the landholders the assistance of loans, is Hie great desideratum. Supposing other difficulties sur- mounted, and a fund created, composed partly ofcoin and partly of land, yet the beneftt contemplated could only then
' be obtained, by the bank's advancing them its notes for the whole, or part of the value of the lands they had sub- scribed to the stock. If this advanee was small, the relief
aimed at would not be given; if it was large, the quantity of notes issued would be a cause of distrust, and, if re- ceived at all, they would be likely to return speedily upon the bank for payment; which, after exhausting its coin", might be under the necessity of turning its lands into money, at any price that could be ^obtained for them, to the irreparable prejudice of the proprietors.
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- Considerations of public advantage snggest 9 *W$her Jffiah, wMeb is, ttot the bank could be established upon principles,that would cause fte pwflts of it to rewound tp *he immediate benefit of the-state. This is contemplated bj many who speak of a national bank, but the idea seem? liable to insuperable objections. To attach full confidence to an institution of this nature, it appears to he an essential ingredient in its structure, that it shall be under a ? private,
not a pttWfe direction, under the guidance of, &i. in>idwd rnterent, not of pwpKc poUoy ; whiejh would be supposed to be, and in certain emergencies, under a feeble or too sanr guine administration, would really be, ljabje to being top HMueh influenced by js>>6K? ? {? &$$%. f h * suspicion of this* would most probably be a canker that would continually porode the yitajs -of the credit of the bank, and'would be piofet likely to prpve fatal inthose situations in which the. public good would require that they . should be most sound ? atfd -Rigorous, It would* indeed* be little less than a mte- $ele, should the credit of the bank be at the disposal'of ? he government* if in a long series of time, there was not experienced a calamitous abuse of it. It is tine, that k
wonld be the real interest of thegovernment net to abuse yt 5 its genuine policyto-husband and cherish it with the most . guarded circumspection, as an inestimable treasure. . But what government ever- uniformly consulted its true Interests, in opposition tp the temptations of momentary exigencies? What nation was pver blessed with a constant
succession of upright and wise administrators ?
Tjae keen* steady, wad *>> i t were, magnetic sense oftheir own interest as proprietors, in the directors of abankj . pointing invariable to its true pole, the prosperity of the Institution j is the only . security that can always be relied iupon for a careful <<md prudent administration. It is, therefore, the only basis on which an enlightened, unqual- ified, and permanent confidence, pan be expected tp be erect-
"<<sd and maintained. '
The precedents ofthe banks established in several cities
>>f Europe; Amsterdanv Hamburg, and others; may . as
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seem to militate against this position* Without a precise knowledge of all the peculiarities (C)f their respective con- stitutions* it is difficult to pronounce how far this may be the case. That of Amsterdam, however, which we best know, is rather under a municipal than a governmental direction. Particular magistrates of the e? ty, not officers
ofthe republic, have the management of it. It is also a bank of deposit, not of loan, or circulation; consequently, less liable to abuse, as well as less useful. Its general business consists in receiving money for safe keeping, which if not called for within a certain time, becomes a part ofits stock, and irreclaimable: But a credit is given for it en the books of the bank, which being transferable, answers all the purposes of money.
The directors being- magistrates of the eity, and th(C) stockholders, in general, its most influential citizens j it is evident, that the principle of private interest must be pre- valent in the management of (he bank. And it is equally evident, that from the nature of its operations, that princi- ple is less essential to it, than to an institution constituted with a view'to the accommodation of the public and indi- viduals, by direct loans and a paper circulation. f
As far as may concern the aid of the bank, within the proper limits, a good government has nothing more to wish for, than it will always possess 5 though the management be in the hands of private individuals. As the institution, if rightly constituted, must depend for its renovation from time to time on the pleasure of the government, it will not be likely to feel a disposition to render itself by its con- duct, unworthy of public patronage. The government too,
'in the administration of its finances, has it in its power to reciprocate benefits to the bank, of not less importance than, those which the bank affords to the government, and which, besides, are never unattended with an immediate and adequate compensation. Independent of these more particular considerations, the natural weight and influence of a good government will always go far towards procuring a compliance with its desires j and as the directors will usually be composed of some of the most discreet, re-
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speetable, and ^ell-kforaed citizens, it can hardly ever he difficult to make them sensible of the force of the in- ducements which ought to stimulate their exertions.
? It Drill net follow, from what has been said, that the state may not be the holder of a part of the stoek of a bank, and consequently a sharer in the profits of it. It will only follow, that it ought not to desire any participa- tion in the direction of it, and therefore, ought not to own the whole or a principal part of the stoek ,? for if the mass of the property should belong to the public, and if the. direction of ft should be in private hands, this would be to commit the interests of the state to persons not in' terested, or not enough interested in their proper manage- ment.
There is one thing, however, which the government owes to itself and to the community; at least to all that part of it who are not stockholdersj which is to reserve to itself a right of ascertaining, as often as may be neces- sary, the state of the bank, excluding, however, all pre- tension to control. This right forms an article in the primitive constitution of the bank of North-America, and its propriety stands upon the clearest reasons. If the pa- per of a bank is to be permitted to insinuate itself into all the revenues and receipts of a countryj if it is even to be tolerated as the substitute for gold and silver-in all the transactions of business; it becomes, in either view, a national concern of'the first magnitude. As such, the ordinary rules of prudence require, that the government should possess die means of ascertaining, whenever it thinks fit, that so delicate a trust is executed with fidelity And care. A right of this nature, is not only desirable as it respects die governmentj but it ought to he equally so to all those concerned in the institution; as an additional tide to public and private confidencej and as a thing which can only be formidable to practices that imply mis- management. The presumption must always be, that the characters who would be intrusted with the exercise of this right on behalf of the government, will not be defi- cient in the*. discretion which it may require; at least the,'
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