The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-11-11 00:00:00

THE CURRENCY QUES

TION

LETTE:

at NO. 11,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES

Bir,--" Thou shalt not muzzit
Itrteadeth out the corn" is not merely a phi'
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that the' experiment was tried, and was crowned with the
most complete success.

As to the statement in his P.S.—that "if my scheme were
adopted, whenever the country found its circulation cramped,
it would only be necessary to petition the Chancellor of the
Exchequer to add ten or twenty millions to our taxation, and
issue notes to correspond." Surely, "A. Currency Reformer"
ought to know that the circulation of the country would never
be cramped, with a currency equal to the taxation, in
addition to the currency, that would be sufficient if there
Id may not t
were no taxes

A Currency Reformer" is right after all, the currency
which I am advocating, would perform a feat for the over.
worked and over-taxed population of these Islands, " greater
and more wonderful than anything Professor Anderson has yet
accomplished.—l am, &c., J. W.
Liverpool, November 6, 1856.

TO TEE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.
Sir,—Bonaparte said, very sarcastically—and not withou`
some appearance of justice and reason—that we were a ❑ation of
shopkeepers. Did he mean to insinuate thereby, that we were
but little better than a set of pedlars? Let that, however,
stand for what it is worth. Since, then, we have made won-
derful progress in many things--if not in every branch con-
nected with trade and commerce ; and it is high time, therefore,
that we should have moved forward a few stages in the
science, as well as the drudgery of trading.
It is notorious, that we are an industrious, indefatigable,
hard-working people. We don't believe that any nation can
prosper long, to any extent, without work ; for to labour is the
--it condition of mankind—not to labour is to depart from
o laid down by Providence, as authenticated by
,pture, and confirmed to us by the circumstances of our
natural condition, and our tenure of life itself. We don't
give up our "sh, pkeeping," but we desire, as we
ought, so to conduct it, and everything connected theiewith,
that if we are still to he taunted for our business habits, it
should surely be by this t me, at least, as a nation of mer-
chants, and that of merchan's capable of organising a well
defined scientific system of commerce, and of nobly adopting
plans calculated to make such a radical improvement in the
social and integral arrangements of our monetary and currency
matters, as the complex state of our gigantic trade loudly
calls for.

These preliminary remarks bring us to the msre definite
part of our subject, viz., the subtle and difficult question of
the currency ; difficult in one sense, but looked at in another
aspect, not difficult in like manner ; difficult chiefly because
of the extraneous matter with which it is cumbered, because
of the prejudices which hedge up and fence in the venerable
pile which we have dedicated to our habits and customs, and
which must first be made, at least, to totter to its foundation,
if it cannot be crumbled to dust and scattered to the winds as
a thing of past ages; fit only to be noted in the curiosity books
of industrious antiquaries, ere we can reasonably hope to make
progress with a more suitable substitute—a tower of strength
and beauty that will defy the elements which incessantly
threaten our present fabric with destruction, and which will
baffle the scrutiny of the most fastidious, for purity, symmetry,
and outline. Beset, however, as is the subject, with difficulties,
yet we firmly believe that a remedy will be found,
and although we ourselves should not, as yet, have arrived at
the full perception of the perfect plan to be adopted, yet we
hope to make such suggestions as will, at any rate, help to lead
to a searching investigation, and to a studious enquiry into the
merits and demerits of the thing we possess on the one hand,
and of the thing we are contending for on the other ; so that
having thereby attained to an enlightened perception of the
cause of the disturbing convulsions to which we are ever and
anon exposed, and of which we shall continue to be the victims
as long as we allow progress to be made in certain branches of
our commerce, without making equivalent improvements in
other concomitant parts (less obvious, perhaps, though equally
important), and without which the former could not be carried
on at all, and even then in a perfect manner, only in propor-
tion as these necessary assistants are themselves efficient and
adequate to the more extended demands made upon them. Keep-
ing close to our subject, strictly speaking, intrinsic value consists
in the usefulness of an article—all other value is a fiction that can
only to be paid for by such as have previously supplied them-
selves with the useful to the extent of their real or imaginary
requirements—iron for pots, clay for mugs, wool for clothing,
coal for fuel, and corn for food—these are self evident, incon-
testible articles of intrinsic value to all ; while precious stones,
the precious metals, and articles of vertu are of intrinsic value
only within a narrow circle, or to a very limited extent beyond
that line of demarcation. A diamond, we admit, is of intrinsic
value to him whose sphere and circumstances warrant his wear-
ing a ring, but it is no such value to the industrious hard
working man who has no use for it. Gold, by this same course
of reasoning, is of intrinsic value only to the extent to which
it can be made practically useful ; beyond that, its value is a
fiction—a fable—and the estimation in which it now stands as
a circulating medium, is well nigh as unsound as the most
trashy paper that ever disgraced a commercial nation ; for, if
the supply of gold throughout the world should increase
year by year a hundred fold, we should not,
strictly speaking, at the end of the next fifty
years, find ourselves, virtually, under our present
system, one jot richer or better off than we are now; neither
should we thereby be rendered less subject to these intermit
tent panics sod gold fevers than in the present day; but, like
the man who takes to ardent spirits, should probably find our
wants increased, and, with that increase, our anxieties and fears
multiplied, and our sensibilities mac keen and more easily
acted upon by the least fluctuation in our cumbrous stock of
lazy, useless bullion. Without any change in the demand or
supply, provisions would be nominally increased in value, in
order to maintain their relative value to gold (rhe only article
of commerce which is not allowed to stand on its own merits).
Gold would still be worth £3 17s. 1011. per ounce, nomi-
nally, while, relatively, it might have decreased to half that
fictitious price. The labourer might earn his ten shillings per
diem, in lieu of his half-crown of to-day, but he would get no
more bread, for he would have to pay four shillings for the
loaf he now purchases for one shilling, consequently, his cir-
cumstances would not be improved, although he might seem
richer in receiving his earnings, as a greater amount
of money, a greater amount of nominal value would
pass through his hands as a medium of barter between his
labour and his wants—with a fired price for gold, and no
idea of 'any other bona fide medium of exchange. Sir
Robert Peel was probably sound in his views, in endeavour-
ing to restrict our paper currency to the amount of bullion
lying idle in the Bank coffers, assuring, I presume, that such
a thing as a paper currency, not based on a system of credit,
could not be conceived of—for strictly speaking—say what
you will—no paper of any hind is legitimate for which the
issuer is not possessed of value to the extent thereof; hut,
where that is the case, as long as the paper is in circulation,
such paper is a better and cheaper medium of exchange than
gold, because intrinsically valueless, yet equally safe ; and I
repeat again, that the black faced sons of Ethiopia, in their
primitive simplicity, set us an example of commercial prac-
tice, with their cowries and such like—the principle of which
we should do well to take a lesson from. All we
want, commercially, is something to represent our capital,
which consists, not of the amount of gold we possess,
or even the amount to which we are entitled, but of
all our possessions, including truly our gold, which, however,
forms but an atom thereof.
We don't require a representative thing to be intrinsically
as valuable as the thing represented, or we should be wofully
at a loss oftentimes, I fear, of selecting our envoies extraordi-
naires to represent the worth of our loved Lady the Queen,
and the sterling qualities of the nation. A good check is far
more convenient than gold, and so is a bank note ; and no man
of business cares to touch the coin from one year's end to the
other, so long as he can pay these away in exchange for mer-
chandise. The great importance of this subject makes it
incumbent on us not to rush into a theory of action before we
have thoroughly cleared the deck for the fray—it is well to be
sure in our movements, even if we be slow in our preparations
—it is folly to rush into battle unprovided, unprepared,
and unenlightened as to the enemy's strength, tactics, &c., if
it can be avoided, whereas, no doubt, he is the most efficient
and the bravest soldier who is emboldened with information on
all these points, let others possess what forces and ammunition
they may. These concluding words for to day I have added
as an apology to such of our supporters and co-
operators, and to such of your readers, as are very
anxious to get on faster ; for, although I fully
sympathise with them, and am equally desirous to proceed,
yet lam far more anxious to do, what we do, well. If the
subject he really as important as we take it to be, then it is
deserving of due deliberation; but if we give it not this deli-
beration, and rush hastily to the erection of the cupula before
the foundations are well secured, we shall, by our own conduct,
make it appear that it cannot be of such vital consequence.—
I remain, sir, your obedient servant, CORNELIUS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.
Sir,—Let me premise the following remarks, with the
assurance that it is not the least with a desire to enter into
private litigation, or to set myself right, but solely for the
adjustment of any apparent discrepancy, and to help forward
the cause advocated by your several very interesting and
instructive correspondents.
It would seem that there is not the same temporizing
turn of mind in me as in our friend " J. W.," nevertheless,
I am equally with him, ready to rejoice in any onward
movement, and, no doubt, with me, he would likewise be
glr.d to see the full development of she principles we are
alike advocating; but as these discussions are with a view
to elucidate the best mode of carrying out the desired object,
as well as to propound sound principles on the suLject in
question, and to arrive at some fixed and enlightened sys-
tem, our opponents need not think they discover any weak
points in the doctrines we are mutually desirous to establish,
because our details may not, at first, dove-tail the one into
the other, offhand, without the customary application of the
skill of the artizan. Being agreed on the great leading
features, of course each person taking part in these delibera-
tions should put aside all desire to carry out his private
views and be willing to have them fully tested.
I must admit that " J. W.'s" railway comparison, at first
sight, looks very much in favour of his reasoning, while, on
closer examination, it will not bear analysing and remain
perfect. Now, as it is desirable to make things straight as
we go on, I must just observe that, to me, his railway
reference rather supports my rashness (if he will have it so)
than his temporizing, so that, if he be the better counsellor, it
is,now made clear by his pretty railway theory—the case
not being similar; to be similar, he must confine himself to
the advocacy of a complete system, sectionally, as was the