A Short History of Paper Money and Banking by William M. Gouge

Author:William M. Gouge [William M. Gouge]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-61016-081-0
Publisher: Augustus M. Kelley Publishers
Published: 1968-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

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* See the public papers of the day.

Of the feeling with which a portion of the community regarded the prospect of a non-renewal of the Bank charter, an opinion may be formed from the following extract from a pamphlet, by Mr. Carey, entitled “Desultory Reflections upon the Ruinous Consequences of a Non-Renewal of the Charter of the Bank of the United States,” published in May, 1810.

“In the history of nations, as well as of individuals, there are to be found occasional moments of frenzy, in which every movement baffles the calculations of the politician, the moralist and the philosopher. To the distractions and derangements of our affairs with the European world we are, with almost incredible folly, preparing, by allowing the charter of the Bank of the United States to expire, to add an awful scene of internal disorder and confusion, of private and public bankruptcy. I have gone over my calculations anew; sifted the facts on which my opinions are founded: turned them in every possible point of view, to discover errors if any there were. But the result of every examination has been an invariable conviction of the reality of the danger, the momentary frenzy of too many of my fellow-citizens, and the awful consequences of the prevailing apathy, if it should continue.”

By the next session of Congress, Mr. Carey’s fears were in no degree abated, as will be seen by the following extract from another pamphlet, published December 15th, 1810, and entitled “Nine Letters to Dr. Adam Seybert, Representative in Congress for the City of Philadelphia.”

“Never have I addressed my fellow-citizens with more solicitude than I feel at present. The question at issue, respecting the renewal of the charter of the Bank of the United States, in its consequences upon the character of the country, and upon the prosperity and happiness of a large portion of its most valuable citizens, I conceive to be of more importance than any one that has been agitated for twenty years.” He then intimates to members of Congress from parts of the country remote from the operations of Banking, “that they are liable to be bewildered and led astray; to be instrumental in dashing the Bank of public credit upon rocks and quicksands, and producing an awful scene of destruction, the consequences or terminations of which elude the power of calculation. At such a crisis, it behoves every man whose experience in any degree qualifies him to shed light upon the subject, to step boldly forward, and use his endeavors to preserve so many vital interests as are at stake from the destruction which menaces them. In such a cause, indifference and guilt would perhaps be synonymous. Influenced by these motives, and unalterably convinced of the reality of the impending ruin, I resolved, at the risk of the abuse, the calumny, the malignity, and the persecution, to which every man is liable, who, on such occasions, takes an active part, to raise my feeble voice in defence of a good cause.

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