When the American Republic was established the Regalia of Money was exercised by all of the Colonies which united to form the Federation, whereupon, and as a matter of necessity, they all surrendered it to the general Government, which, under the Constitution, alone has the power to issue money and regulate its value or denominations. It was a misfortune that when the Union was formed it was so poor that it was obliged to tolerate the issuance of money by a private corporation, the Bank of Pennsylvania. Out of that bank grew all of the so-called state banks of a subsequent period, and out of those state banks, during the Civil War, grew all of the so-called National banks. Every one of these banks, both “state” and “National,” were all, and are yet, private banks, their titles in every case being misnomers. It is not intended to say a word against banks as guardians and lenders of money; on the contrary, they are recognized as highly useful and even indispensable institutions. As a rule, they are conducted by respectable and honorable men, and it cannot be disputed that they have done much to promote the progress of industry and the prosperity of trade. Whether they would have done more or less in these directions had they not been permitted to usurp the Regalia of Money, which act forms no necessary part of a banking business, it is not proposed to discuss. Said Mr. Jefferson: “I have ever been the enemy of banks; not of those discounting for cash, but of those foisting _their own money_ into circulation, and thus banishing _our_ cash.” What influence, whether for good or evil, which this usurpation of the Regalia exercised in his day it is now too late to examine. But the time has come when the relinquishment of the Regalia to the banks can no longer be tolerated. The bankers have had a century of profitable innings; the people now demand theirs. The state laws of incorporation are so contradictory, loose and pliable that there have grown up under them companies and institutions so constituted that, in combination with banks usurping the Regalia, it is in their power—and this is what Mr. Lawson has shown very effectively—to strip the nation over and over again of its earnings, and eventually to absorb its entire wealth. It is scarcely too much to say that unless the United States Government resumes this Regalia, and absolutely prohibits the circulation of any money, whether of metal or paper, not of its own immediate issuance, we will find ourselves in the course of very few years hopelessly in debt to a band of absentee millionaires, who, having shown us their heels, will next show us their teeth.