Portage Sentinel

The Portage Sentinel.

RAVENNA, OHIO:

Wednesday, August 6, 1845.

BANKS.

If the Legislature of this State had incorporated a set of robbers, giving them power and authority, in a public manner to filch from the pockets of the people and exempted them from taxation for the purpose of inducing them to carry on their plunders, not an honest man in the State but would have been indignant at such a course. And yet, after we have witnessed the transactions and the inglorious end of 46 plundering concerns which have heretofore existed in Ohio, and which had flooded the State with their worthless paper promises, and then betrayed the too generous confidence reposed in them by the people, we see the whig Legislature of this State creating another batch of worthless swindling concerns, refusing to make those for whose benefit they are created, liable for their issues, and thus, in a measure, securing the people against those frauds which have heretofore been practiced upon them, but surrounding them with immunities and privileges not enjoyed by individuals, and exempting them from taxation, that in a few years they may be enabled to follow the example of their illustrious predecessors, and prey upon the people. And whether the people will submit to these things--whether they will sanction these acts of last winter's whig legislature is a question which they must answer at the polls in October next. If they do, they must expect to reap the bitter fruits of this iniquitous system. The corrupting influences of these worthless institutions, upon the principles upon which they have heretofore been created, have been sufficiently felt by the people of Ohio, and it only remains for time to reveal the iniquitous transactions under the present system, if it shall long be permitted to exist. And are there any among us who desire a return of the expansion and contraction era of 1835-6? If not, how long will you permit this black puzzle to remain upon the statute book!

We subjoin the following list of defunct banks which have preyed upon the people in years that are past, and we hope that every man in this county, and in the State will have an eye upon this picture when he goes to the polls on the second Tuesday of October next.

Bank of Exchange, Cincinnati,

Bank of Cincinnati,

Bank of the United States, Branch,

Cincinnati and White Water Canal Company,

Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank,

Miami Exporting Company,

Ohio and Cincinnati Loan Office,

Otis, Arnold & Co's Bank,

Bank of Circleville, (new) chartered in 1818

Bank of Hamilton, Hamilton,

Bank of Gallipolis, Gallipolis,

Bank of Steubenville, Steubenville,

Bank of Mansfield, Mansfield,

Bank of Sandusky Bay, Lower Sandusky,

Western Banking Company,

Bank of West Union, West Union,

Canal Bank of Middletown,

Commercial Bank of Lake Erie, Cleveland,

Commercial Bank of Scioto, Portsmouth,

Farmers' Bank of Canton, Canton,

Farmers' Bank of New Salem, New Salem,

Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank, Chillicothe,

Franklin Silk Company,

German Bank of Wooster, Wooster,

Geauga Insurance Company, Painesville,

Granville Alexandrian Society, Granville,

Goshen, Wilmington and Columbus Turnpike Company,

Hamilton and Rossville Manufacturing Company,

Jefferson Bank, New Salem,

Kirtland Safety Society Bank, Kirtland,

Lebanon Miami Banking Company, Lebanon,

Lancaster, Ohio, Bank, Lancaster,

Maumee Insurance Company,

Manhattan Bank, Manhattan,

Monroe Falls Manufacturing Company

Miami Exporting Company, Branch, Connecticut,

Owl Creek Bank, Mt. Vernon

Orphans' Institute Bank, Fulton,

Ohio Rail Road Company, Richmond,

Urbana Banking Co., Urbana,

Washington Bank, Miamisburg,

Western Reserve Farmers' Banking Company Brighton,

Zanesville Canal and Manufacturing Company Zanesville.

And will the people of Ohio find the banks which are going into existence under the law of last winter, and of which the whigs so loudly clamor, less subject to evils, and their course marked with less corruption and fraud than the above defunct concerns? Many people, we know, when a new policy is started, think it is best to try it, and then, if it is found not to be beneficial, to abandon it; but will it do to wait until these public leeches shall have fastened themselves upon the public, when it will be their will, if the people attempt to compel them to deal honestly, to immediately attempt to distress the people, and in this attempt they seldom fail. Then, let us not delay acting upon this subject while yet they are powerless to inflict an injury.

The elections for members of the Legislature took place in Illinois and Missouri on Monday last, and on the same day in Indiana, Kentucky and Alabama for members of the Legislature & Congressmen, and the election for Governor, Congressmen and members of the Legislature takes place in Tennessee on to-morrow.

We learn that the stock holders of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Michigan have paid in the sum of $50,000, and that the Bank has resumed business. For a time all things will go on smoothly again.