The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-20 00:00:00

Money in America.

The Spectator's special correspondent in Nov
York writes a very good letter on Money Matters
in America, dated New York, May 25, 1866. He
describes the effect of the great financial crisis in
London as being very slightly felt in Wall-street.
Gold rose from_l3l on Wednesday to 141 on Friday,
the sum exported from Ist May to that date being
22,000,000 dollars. ci Nor have I heard," he goes on
to say, " except in a single instance, any reference to
those somewhat memorable articles upon our finan-
cial condition, and especially on our intentions to-
wards our creditors, which appeared in the Time
the Saturday Review, and other London paPellf
about eighteen months ago and previously, and from
which any cruelly-disposed person may obtain some
gratification by compelling their writers to read
them aloud to a circle of admiring friends." The
point of interest in this letter is the medium of dr'
culation—what, as the writer emphatically states/
is called money. He says, "In the winter of 1862
a gentleman who has a high reputation as a pub-
heist, both in Europe and America, was discussing
in a company, of which I was one, the proposal to
make Treasury notes a legal tender by Act of Con-
gress. He spoke against the proposition without
qualification ; told how he had entreated Mr. Chase,
then Secretary of the Treasury, and certain meta"
bers of the Finance Committee of Congress, not to
bring ruin upon the country—not to make notes'
even Treasury notes, a legal tender ; and at last,
taking a greenback from his pocket, he held it
saying, " That thing' money ? It's a good thlogo
in its way—a convenient thing ; but call it money 1
The writer shows that events afterwards proved
that what his friend flouted so contemptuousli
was money—not the representative of money, Nit
money as much as any guinea that ever was corn
edi
and it is in a want of knowledge of this fact that oi!'r
English financial wiseacres have erred so egrogl:
ously. He illustrates what he has advanced most
amusingly. " About a year and a-half ago lOS
in an omnibus, when a man entered who was plaitd„l
a Cuban Spaniard. He offered the driver a sow
gold coin—a dollar, or quarter-eagle—for his far
What am Ito do with this?' said the man ; this
isn't money ! ' We all, except the Spaniard, laughed,
but Jehu was right ; it was not money, and he,
could do nothing with it. The Spaniard could 0"
speak a word of English, and was moneyless with
handful of gold. One of his fellow-passengers
settled the matter by giving the driver a very dat?::
ill-smelling piece of paper, about an inch and shout
square. At another time I found myself with°.
my pocket-book at a restaurant, where I rarely g°,
but in my purse I had some coin, which I had C
ried all through the war, for I confess I liked the
sight and the feeling of the stamped metal--a b 3_,rA
barous taste of which I have not been able to r'"
myself—l offered a silver half-dollar, but althougha
the cashier had his drawer full of ' money he 00111_,
not give me change for my silver, which I preforre
to leave with him and redeem on my way 111,
with a fifty-cent ' shin-plaster,' or stamp. I /B_o
ture to express the opinion that gold and silver
actually ceased to be coin among a rich and thriv il:
people, who have plenty of the precious metals an' a
spare ; and the thing my political economist file%
scouted so was actually money, as actual DOI
and as good money within the United States as
golden eagle."