If every Bank note in the country were consumed by fire to-morrow, the wealth of the nation would be diminished just as much as it would be by the destruction of so much waste paper.

As paper drives specie out of circulation, so, the withdrawal of paper brings specie Bank again. Wherever there is a vacuum it flows in, unless political regulations counteract its tendency to find its own level.

If we gradually withdraw Bank notes from circulation, no evil will ensue, for specie will immediately supply their place.

The proper mode of proceeding would be, to begin with the smallest notes, and proceed gradually to those of the highest denomination.

The money unit of the United States is the dollar, consisting of 416 grains of standard silver, or 371¼ grains of pure silver and 34¾ grains of alloy. All our contracts are to pay and receive dollars; all our accounts are kept in dollars. The dollar is thus our money of both account and contract, and its legal value is fixed by our having a coin of the same name, containing the quantity of pure silver and alloy which has just been mentioned.

In a report to the Senate, by the Committee of Finance, made March 29th, 1830, it is said—

“The Government receives its revenue from—

There is nothing novel in the modern system of Banking, except its being carried on by corporations and by the instrumentality of paper money.

To infer that because a system produces great evil, it must soon give way, would be to argue in opposition to all experience. If mere suffering could produce reformation, there would be little misery in the world.

The laws which govern the moral world are just as certain in their nature as those which govern the physical: but it is not always easy to fortell the effects of a political measure, because it is not easy to foresee the precise combination of causes that will be in operation at any future period.

To place the subject fairly before the reader, we shall bring together the principal propositions that have been supported in this essay, and leave the decision to his candid judgment.

We have maintained:

1. That real money is that valuable by reference to which the value of other articles is estimated, and by the instrumentality of which they are circulated. It is a commodity, done up in a particular form to serve a particular use, and does not differ essentially from other items of wealth.

A

OF

IN THE

UNITED STATES.

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