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" Oh the banks ! the wicked banks !" Dear sir, what is the matter? What have the banks done? "Done! sir why, they won't give me specie for my bills; and in this golden age of Tom Benton, I can't get specie enough for a lawful tender, on a twenty dollar debt !"Well, sir: perhaps you are a Van Buren inan; we won't hurt your sensibility by telling you, in this article, the first causes which have led to this state of things: it is our purpose to explain bri. fly the causes of later occurrence.To begin, then, the banks of New-York stopped specie payments-and probably for a reason satisfactory even to you, inash:uch as a government bank, alias a pet, led the way.At that time the city was filled with bills of other banks which had not stopped, and the Shylocks and harpics bought them up at a premium of from five to ten per cent. and started off expresses to draw out the specie from these other banks in Boston, Albany, &c. &c. Now, what would be the result? For instance, turn to Boston : the banks of this city had bills in New York to the amount of perhaps a million or two of dollars--and this amount in specie would of course be immediately drawn out by the harpies. At the same time Boston had New York bills to an equal amount, and could not draw back a single dollar of specie. The effect would be to drain Boston of epecie, and carry it to New York, when in fact Boston did not owe her a single To prevent this-10 four-pence-ha*penny! defend themselves and the people of Boston,-the banks there resolved to suspend specie payments also and the New York shavers, who had come on just after the banks had shut up for the day, with their pockets crammed with bills bought up at a large premium, went back with "fleas in their ears,"-just as they deserved. Now what is true of the Boston banks, is true of every country bank. We will take the bank of Montpelier, for example. Our merchants had just been to Boston and bought their spring goods, carrying Montpelier bills. Of course a large share of these bills were already redeemed when specie payments were stopped there, yet perhaps a few thousande were in circulation. These would have been bought up by the shavers, had not this bank also stopped paying specie, and the specie would have been demanded of the bank; the bill-holders here also would have taken the alarm and drawn out specie. But this bank could not diaw on Boston, although it might have bills enough on foreign banks to redeem its own.The inevitable effect would be to strip it of its specie, stop its discounts, and perhaps depreciate its paper, bringing a large loss, not so much upon the bank, as upon the farmers and mechanics who have its bills. The salvation of the bank and of this community, then, demanded of it to stop specie payment for the present. Had not this bank and the other state banks pursued this course, the result would be nothing more nor less than draining the state of specie, and crippling all its banksa misfortune most to be dreaded by the people, who would have been the greatest bufferor If, in this view of the matter, people must complain-let them complain of something beside the banks: they have evidently acted, not only in defence of themselves, but for the protection of the people.
