Blog #2

Blog 2

Nick Mitterando

            This reading was by William M. Gouge Decries. Decries starts out by voicing his strong opinion on banks in America. His first claim states that whatever power corporations have, has at one point been taken from the people or government. This gives us a good idea on his views for the rest of the reading. Decries has a very strong opinion towards banks and corporations in general. “They are exempted from liabilities to which individuals are subjected” he says. What Decries means by this is that corporations are safe from certain problems that face individuals. His example of this says how when a man can’t pay his taxes or bills, he is hunted by a creditor, the creditor then takes his belongings to pay. Whereas with a bank or corporation, when they can’t pay the problem falls on the people who put their money into it.

            He later says how he does not like how the banks are printing money now instead of the government. This is proved in his quote “They coin money out of paper. What has always been considered one of the most important prerogatives of Government, has been surrendered to the Banks.” Decries does not like how much power and how little liability the banks have in America. He ends by making an interesting connection to Lords in England. He says how in England Lords are given special privileges and are exempt from certain problems other people face. He then says how the equivalent of this in America is banks. I believe this shows how upset he is with the banking system and cooperation’s as a whole. In the early days it must have been hard to trust that your money was safe in the bank. Given the time period this was written I can understand his concerns.

-Nick Mitterando