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Some Southern Financial History. Representative Dalzell sprang a question in financial history in Congress a few days ago, when he asserted that the Tennessee and Louisiana bank notes, which Mrs. Flora Darling owned and which had been seized by Federal soldiers, were not worth par in gold. It depends upon what banks issued the notes. Louisiana had one of the best banking systems in the Union at the time the war broke out. Its "free banking" law is regarded by historians as a model. During the panic of 1857 most of the New Orleans banks with-stood the storm, and maintained specie payments, though the New York banks made no pretense of doing 80 with the EXception of the Chemical. The Pennsylvania banks suspended al. most at the beginning of the trouble -in fact, as early as August 24. Here in the Ohio valley, in South Carolina and New Orleans the banks promptly redeemed their notes. At the breaking out of the war the State Bank of Louisiana had the largest specie reserve of any State in the Union, $4,133,000. The Citizens' Bank held $3,332,000. There is little doubt that these banks, all of which were managed by able financiers, could have kept up specie payments during the war. At the request of the Governor, however, they suspended September 16, 1861, the Southern alone excepted. This was done in order to help maintain the credit of the Con. federate notes. Representative Boatner says the bank notes continued to circulate at par, and he is doubtless right. Banking historians pay high tributes to the financial institutions in many parts of the South. Among others the State Bank of South Carolina is on record as being one of the best managed concerns in the world. It did not suspend payments for sixty years. While the Tennessee banks have not 60 honorable a record, the Bank of Tennessee was 80 well managed that in the course of twenty years it paid the State a net profit of $4,700,000. It removed all its assets to the South early in the war, and although they were never recovered yet when the bank was wound up by the Legislature in 1866 the notes were all redeemed. No doubt they freely circulated while greenbacks were depreciated, just as the bonds of this and other States remained at par while United States bonds were going begging at a discount. Mr. Dalzell is a man of too great ability and reputation to make such a point against a bill without proper investigation. If he would read the history of banking during the war be would learn many things that would surprise him. He would learn, also, that many Southern States have a much more honorable financial history than his own, populous and wealthy though it was as compared to them.-Courier Jour. nal.