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THE REFLECTOR.
MILLEDGEVILLE, G. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1818.
Georgia Legislature
JHepresentati ves—Tuesday, *\ or. 17.
—1 semi von, m conformity with * rc-
ubstrac; of tlie argument I del vei cd beu ,c tiie
, on the application of Messrs. Schultz ami
tor a charter. R\ those who heard it ilcliu'r-
rei.ilih recognized; hut to such as did not,
to reijucst, that they will receive this us a
view of the argument only—not a speech, hut
Yottr’sjScc. T. l'Oin'.
die, November 26,1818.
on the Agricultural IIanlc Question.
'OUT, vt Baldwin—Mr. Chairman,
resent state of this country, it will
enied, that it is to agriculture and
*c we are to look for the most desira-
,ts of pursuit.
rerce brings to us the luxuries anil
nces of other countries, and diffus-
tis the blessings of our own. It is
that commerce should he brought
or of every man, so that lie may pro
fit he wants at the easi-st rate, and
he makes for the highest price,
c experience of all countries prove,
nerce cannot tlourish without capi-
‘ wlicncver the merchant trades on a
-k, his profits must be large or he
bsist. Hence, lie demands a high
is goods; and this operates as a
farmer. But if there is, at any
distance, a place of large trading
here the merchant can afford to
r for his profits, the farmer will
better market for his produce
s at a cheaper rate. In this way,
own acquires a large capital, it will
products of agriculture even against
able obstacles to the transportation,
aw of commerce is in the present
ch augmented in its force by the cl
anks. These institutions, by sub-
credit for capital, afford to mer-
uch facilities in trade as to give the
here they are located, a decided ad-
over others. Much has been said
banks, amt in a government like
eir existence is to be deplored. Aris-
in their origin, they are the bane of
an institutions. Whenever they in-
country, the ranks of society divide
hem. This is, to a certain extent,
itable consequence of wealth in any
but by the banking system its pow-
bled. Who does not sec amongst us
sinking to an insufferable distance
rich ? But who ean say these things
t be ? Unfortunately it is no longer
on whether we shall have banks.—
•e already among us, and it is not in
»er to destroy them. Nor would their j
ion avail us any thing, so long as they
our sister states. Such a measure
ntail on us a foreign paper medium,
the evils and none of the benefits of
for say what you will of the banks,
mand the commerce of our country,
ts tioek annum them, unawed In
ity they arc compelled to practice,
is said, that we are in want of bank
»r the purposes of trade. l)o gen-
ink their absurd calculations quab
ove it ? Do they know so little oi
lation of money, as to suppose we re-
irculaiing medium extensive enough
~e a w hole crop at once ? Are they
, that our little merchants purchase
For produce to four or five times the
f their capital every year ? Their
ns differ from the truth, uy at least,
s the value of a y ear’s produce is
money in the hands of individuals
je time, in their rage for theory
ook facts. Whoever found Augusta
o purchase cotton ? or when did
issue paper to the extent of their
The state hank, I anrauthorised
as never done it; nor indeed has
to my know ledge.
?ectors of banks have, in all parts
.untry, become unpopular. This
table consequence of their situa-
thc laws that govern them. But it
aid that the note of a man living
ntry is not put on a footing with
citizen of a town, however well se-
conutry paper may be. And do
suppose ti.ese men prefer to dis-
weakesl paper ? This would be
ail idiot. But the secret is lliis :
rcr of a note is not hound to pay it
is furnished with a notice of its non.
ntbin a reasonable time thereafter,
y one knows this would be imprac-
Tliis rule of law wa's made for the
the distant endorser* But the
this state detest the distinction it
to. They are right.—Then let
law, as far as it relates to banks,
. The people of Georgia will
endorsements they make, and
;bound for the payment of such
let me say, in this place, this law
to the directors of banks,
ion before us is local. If it is
ic enormous real and artificial
e city of Augusta, is the cause
nse trade, it becomes us to en-
ler it is for the interest of the
rity of this state to erect this
as a loadstone to draw the pr i-
iculturc, at an imuien^* expense
rr, from every part ofr'^rgia?
easier to transfer a traw^ capi-
Iwdr
tal to the Altamalia ami its. streams; to
draw the commerce of the state into more
convenient channels, and save tiie farmer
the immense sums lie pays for transportation.
Can the establishment of this bank benefit
the eastern border of this state l lias not
the town of Augusta more than capital en
ough to do their trade ? Then why wish to
usurp the trade of the whole country ? But
if the eastern border of the state can receive
blit little benefit from this law, what part of
the state can it be expected to advantage ?
Not the western.—They are already paying
a tribute of tiie land carriage of their cotton
entirely across the state ; and shall wo he
tiie men who will perpetuate this evil? As
to the low country their interest is clear:
The town of Savannah is sufficiently remote
from most of them ; but transfer to Augus
ta the whole commerce of the state, and they
are the most remote and inconvenient section
in it.
I now come to the delicate subject of the
applicants for this charter. I beg leave to
consider them only as capitalists, totally un
connected with any moral character they
may deserve. I cheerfully grant that they
have been very liberal to tiie up county peo
ple. But have they not met with their re
ward? Have they not been liberally paid
for all the loans they have made ? and where
have they obtained the overgrown fortunes
by which they are enabled to make this pro
position. Surely I should delight in seeing
the fruits of gratitude ample as the bounty
ol Heaven. Hut do the people of Georgia
owe a debt of gratitude to Messrs. Schultz
He M'Kinnec ? If it was ever due it has been
amply paid. I should think, ttiat these men
are doing a business large enough in all con
science. W by then do they urge, their claim
for a charter at this time ? The reason is
plain : loaning money is a popular business :
but collecting it is far otherwise. They wish
a charter to place them out of the reach of
popular resentment. For now it lias become
necessary that they should send out the she-
riff and the marshal. This year’s continu
ance of their operations and the knell of their
departed popularity, has tolled. And who
blames them ? They only pursue their own
interest, and it is for us to avoid legalizing
their operations, w hen they arc destructive
of the ends of society.
But it is said, that our rivers (tiie Alta-
malia and its branches,) arc not sufficiently
navigable to answer the purposes of com
merce. Can such an extravagant notion
prevail for a moment? Boats from Mil-
kdgeville arc of sixty tons burthen ; they
descend to Darien and return in forty days ;
they arc navigated by sixteen hands—and
yet our farmer’s find it to their interest to
waggon their cotton to Augusta. And why
is this so ? Because we have neither capital
here nor at our sea-port. Our little mer
chants, after purchasing a few bales of cot
ton. must stop business till they make sales.
They cannot wait longer than a waggon
will run to Augusta for a return of their
funds—and this is the case with all the west
ern section of this state. The price of trans
portation is the tribute we pay ; how long
shall we, who are so rich in the products of
agriculture, and convenient to navigable
streams, remain tributary to 1 he mercantile
ascendency of a few men ? Let us offer a-
mong us facilities to trade, and the merchant
and his capital will immediately follow. Can
this policy, so obvious, be overlooked ? Can
the legislature he duped into the passage of
this bill, so palpably against the interest of
a great majority of the people of Georgia ?
I trust not.
Mr. B. WILLIAMS, of Putnam.—Mr.
Chairman,—It must he well recollected, that
I have, ever since 1 have had the honor of be
ing a representative of the state, opposed the
principles of banking ; because the constitu
tion of the United States, art. 1st. and sect.
1 Oth. states, •• that no state shall enter into
any treaty, alliance or confederation, grant
letters of marque and reprisals, coin money,
emit bills of credit, make any thing but gold
and silver coin a tender in payment of debts,
pass bills of attainder, expost facto law, or
law impairing the obligation of contracts,
or grant any title of nobility.*’ The present
banks are monopolizing a large part of
the wealth of the state on a false capital,
and at tlie expense of the balance of the cit
izens of the state ; and it must be well un
derstood that money will force its way, and
1 fear, that it will not only draw the wealth
of the state out of the hands of the balance
of the citizens, hut also, the reins of gov
ernment. I am therefore in favor of the
present bill ; because 1 wish it restricted in
such a way as to make all of their private
property hound for the payment of their bills,
and on their refusing to pay gold and silver
for their bills, they shall forfeit their char
ter ; and that will compel other banks to
pay gold and silver for their bills, or they
will loose their credit. This is, in my opin
ion, the best way to check them, as they
have got a cha - * contrary, to what I be
lieved at the ti \ ranted, to be right,
and am of the y ii as yet—and w ill
ever preserve, ■ i ■. k to be the true
interest of the
MR. T. I. . < -i .. (of Greene.) Mr.
Chairman—I . "*h i view of testing
the general pr the Banking sys
tem, I therefor at the committee
rise and report that they have disagreed t
the bill. In making this motion, it inaj
bo expected that I should give some of the
reasons whirlt will influence my vote. To
go at length into the origin of Banks would
require more time than this committee would
feel willing to bestow, and would be a task
to which 1 feel myself totally inadequate. I
am well aware that the friends of this hill
will contend that at this time it would be im
proper to go into the original question as to
the policy of banks, but for myself I must
acknowledge that thequestion whether banks
were originally right or not, considerably in
fluences the vote 1 shall give—That banks
were originally instituted for the benefit of
commerce, and were solely intended to apply
to commercial men, is a fact confirmed by
history. In Europe as well as in this country
as commerce extended it has been thought
that it was necessary to increase the number
of banks, and such lias been the enormous
extension of this system in many of the
states, that it is viewed as an evil of such
magnitude as to excite the fears of every re
flecting man. We have only to direct our
eyes to some of the northern states, & we will
readily discover the ruinous consequences
resulting from this system. Indeed in the
state of Kentucky, I have recently received
information of the deplorable condition of
tiie people of that state, since this mammoth
of distraction lias been established am oiigst
them.
I will acknowledge that hanks properly
restricted may be advantageous to commer
cial men, in facilitating the means of ex
change, but whenever you transcend those
limits you attack the first principles of our
government, and sap the morals of the whole
community. By them you establish a mon
ied aristocracy, opposed to every feature of
a republican form of government, and you
change the character of our citizens, by con
verting the Agriculturist into a speculator—
such has been the result in all countries
where banks have been the order of the day
and such will be the effect produced in this
state if we should charter the banks applied
for at this session. I shall first endeavor,
Mr. Chairman, to satisfy this committee,
that the banks already chartered in this
state, have already had a bad effect on the.
community. One of the evils which lias
been consequential on this system lias been
the total disappearance of specie from among
us. It is to be sure contended that notwith
standing specie is not in general circulation,
yet it remains in the rc.ff rs of the banks, and
that the bills of chartered banks are the
fair representatives of gold and silver. If
this position was literally true, the friends of
this bill might be able to occupy a strong
ground ; but when we recollect that specie is
above par even at the very doors of the
banks, it will appear evident that hank notes
are not the proper and fair representatives
of specie. To give to them full credit it is
import;; ii. that the holders of these bills
should be able to command the specie at par
not only by presenting them at bank, hut
from individuals in the neighborhood of
those banks ,vhu have specie on hand.—It is
a notorious fact,that tiie banks already eliar-
lered have discovered an unaccommodating
disposition towards the payment of specie,
even since they have pledged themselves to
redeem their hills by the payment of specie,
for when you present their hills and demand
gold, they will tender you silver, and so vice
versa, which is a clear demonstration that
they were desirous of avoiding the payment
of specie, and if forced to pay it, they will
pay you off in just that kind of specie which
you did not desire ; and depend on it, Mr.
Chairman, notwithstanding the boasted spir
it of liberality aud accommodation spoken of
as belonging to the petitioners who have pro
duced this bill towards the farmers of this
state, grant them a charter, and you will
soon discover that like other bankers, they
will pursue their own individual interest and
security.—1 have heard it suggested by hon
orable gentlemen, that as we have gono so
far in the hanking establishment in this state
that w e, cannot recede, and that although it
was originally wrong, we must pursue the
evil, ami suffer it to cure itself: adnetrineas
absurd as it is ridiculous, and which is well
calculated to subvert every moral principle.
1 am fully sensible, Mr. Chairman, that this
measure is presented to us under eircu in
stances very auspicious, and dressed in col
ours very specious and plausible ; but we
should take especial care, that although the
draught may be sweet and pleasant to the
taste, that (hero is not poison ingeniously
concealed, which will leave its sting behind.
In the second place, I am clearly of opinion,
that there is at present sufficient circulating
medium, to purchase up all the produce of
our country, and to answer all the purposes
of commerce. It is ascertained that the ex
ports from this state the last year amounted
to about fourteen millions of dollars, and yet
the price of cotton was higher than over was
before known, and was readily sold by the
planter. If there had been a deficiency of
circulating medium, it must have followed,
that the price of produce, would have been
lower in this state, (in the ordinary pro
portion) than in South Carolina, where they
have much more banking capital ; hut such
was not the fact; yet say the friends of this
hill, w o wis{i to expel foreign bapk paper,
and give to onr citizens the profits arising
from the circulation of this paper, to accom
plish which they contend it is necessary to
charter this bank; for myself, Mr. Chairman,
l believe that a certain portion of foreign
paper is necessary to commerce, aud tlnit if
we had ten times as much bank paper of our
own state, that this foreign paper would find
its way here with aiview of facilitating com
merce in the remission of money to other
states,but if for argument sake, we admit that
there is a deficiency of circulating medium,
I do not believe, that the legislature would
actwisely in granting this charter, but would
do much more justice in applying this neces
sary circulating medium, to another section
of this state, where they have at present no
banking institution. If any applicati n of
this kind should meet with legislative sanc
tion, the one from Darien is the only one
that deserves (lie fostering hand of this legis
lature -S .me of the friends of this bill have
urged, that banks have greatly benefited the
planter, because, the price of cotton, since
tlu-ir establishment, lias so greatly increased.
Tills doctrine is illusory ; for while nominal
ly, we receive a greater sum of money than
formerly for our cotton, if the planter de
sires to purchase either land or negroes with
the surplus profits of his crop, he is unablo
to purchase as much land or as many slaves,
as when he received less for his cotton.—
The prices of land and slaves, have increas
ed in a greater ratio, than cotton, since the
establishment of banks in this state. There
fore the planter cannot b< benefited by tho
chartering of other banks. It lias also been
contended, by the friends of this bill, that
(lie planter would be peculiarly benefited, by
one feature in the bill, which authorizes him
to draw money from the bank by giving a
country endorser. For my part, Mr. Chair
man, I doubt very much, whether you would
benefit the planter by affording him the fa
cilities of going into bank, for his crop or
harvest comes in only once a year, and there
fore, the punctuality required in banks might
essentially injure him. The planter, in my
opinion, had much better (if he. is obliged
to borrow money) apply to Ids neighbor ; for
with him an accidental failure in payment
would not impair his credit, nor injure Ids
standing in the estimation of the community,
while a failure in bank is well calculated to
destroy both. To draw to a close, Mr.
Chairman, I do not believe that banks art*
productive of general good. I am also,
clearly of opinion, that we have already en
ough chartered in this state, for the purpos
es of commerce ; and feeling satisfied that
tho hank bills already in circulation, are not
the true representatives of gold and silver, I
ain constrained to oppose the further pro
gress of this bill ; and while I give this vote,
I feel conscious of a faithful discharge of my
duty, towards my God, my country, and tny-
selk I shall therefore, close my remarks,
Ibr the present, and patiently wait to hear
the reasons in support of tins important
measure.
Mr. BLAIR, (of Franklin) said, as to tho
banks generally, lie had been against them,
lie voted for the charter of the State Bank,
thinking that all persons would be equally
benefited. He was mistaken—it only bene
fits a few to the injury of the farmers, and
more particularly in the back country, as
tliey cannot obtain town endorsers. It has
been suggested by some gentlemen that the
charter prevents money being advanced to
planters without town endorsers. He denied
the fact—It was the directors who made those
regulations. He was determined, lie said,
during the time lie Itad the honor of a seat in
this house, never to give his vote to a hank
ing institution for any given time, beyond
the reach of the legislature. The bill on the
table was shaped differently from all charter
ed banks in the state—It was completely un
der the controul of any future legislature.
He would further observe, that M’Rinncc
He Schultz, lie was sorry to state, had been
by some gentlemen who had spoken, not on
ly abused, but it had been roundly asserted
that they were not honest men, and tiiat it
was an insult to this legislature for them to
have made such propositions : For his part,
he viewed them as honest men ; and be as
serted that the Bridge Bills were letter
credit in the up-country, than the bins of any
of the chartered banks. The reason of
this was obvious—will any gentleman under
take to say that specie was ever refused when
the bills of the Bridge Company were pre
sented ? No, they eannot. Is this the case
with the chartered banks ? No—destroy that
bill on your table, and you prevent the far
ming interest of tiie back country from be
ing on an equal footing with the merchant of
your cities and towns ; aud these very mer
chants will make you take their prices for
your produce—you will be compelled pi take
it, if your necessities call for money. Then,
Mr. Chairman, farmers that cannot obtain
town endorsers, and have no opportunity of
getting money by a deposit of produce or on
country endorsement, must go without—then
comes home to us the want of money. Thus
far L have given my opinion on the subject—.
1 shall certainly support the bill.
Mr. HUDSON spoke in supportof the sub
stitute proposed by bis colleague to the origi
nal bill. He agreed with the. gentleman from
I'wiggs (Mr. M. Fort,) that tho question be
fore the house was a general, anil not a Ip.