Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1816-03-27


quantity of money, OF sUiHe, for instance,
more than half the amount OF which is TAG,
not a eth part OF the quantity, will proba-
bly,, be consumed.
lhisiS SO clear to me. that am surpris-
Cd that the Fund-Hoiders should not be
among,t the foremost to W sh tor ncw and
eopious issues of paper. They are afraid,
and not without reason. that the issues OF
paper money would, in a short time, reduce
their dividends to one half, or less, OF their
nominal value. But if, on the other hand,
taxes cannot be collected to pay them more
than one half, CT less than one half, of the
nominal amount of their dividends, is not
this way of losing the most dangerous OF
the two! think il is because, as / be-
FIRE observed, If once reduction OF the
interest expressly begins, no man can tell,
or surmise whs re it will stop
The present winter will, think, bring
forth most useful information for the world.
! think that 1t viii decide the question
whether it be possible for a nation, with
safety to itself, and without the risk of ge-
nera! confusion, to go on. heaping debt up
on debt to the amount OF Thousand mill
hons sterling. Ii is certain, that as an IN
iYiduai, so long IS ne can borrow as much
money as ne pleases, he will be able to do,
as so trade, commerce, or agriculture, al
most whatsoever he pleases oft is GER
tain, that a government, as long rs it can
. borrow in the same way, viii be able, in
the affairs of nations, to do almost what it
pleases, especially when ithas to cope
with governments that cannot borrow
But it is pretty evident, that, as in the
case OF the Individual, SO in the case of the
government, when the source of borrowing
or the capacity of paying interest stops, it
must he in worse state, than II it had lie
yer been able to borrow.
Sir John SINCLAIR, in pamphlet pub
iish, d in 1910, says, in opposing the propo
sition ofthe Bullion Committee. that the
G6u-dznce Of circulation, (spea King of bank
notes not convertible into gold or Si,ver,)
is the great source of our oItuiencc and
rueGLfh, and mine of national prosperity
What is become of this nine now ? To
DC sure as long as il gvhH iGSs, the album
dance of paper money is equal to mine
of geld but, a mine of gold would pro-
duce ruin, if man were to contract debts
upon scale calculated on its dura-
ton for ages, and if the mine were
suddenly to give out in his life time. Such
men as Sir John Sinclair, seem to have pro-
ceeded upon the position, that there was
never to be an end of, nor any check to
the issues OF paper-money. / should ike
to hear what the Barcnet says 2!o7y But,
the truth is, all the defenders OF the paper
system, SO bold in 1910, now stand aghast.
a state Of things has arisen which they ne
yer contemplated OF which they never
had the most distant idea. The land, from
which all real prosperity must proceed,
now feels = most dreadful pressure. The
palsy, which has seized it first, is fast
creeping over every class in the community
All is becoming stagnant. The means Of
paving taxes are, in every quarter, daily
and hourly and rapidly diminishing. while
,.he vents of the government cannot be
materially diminished, without some mea-
sure which will make the hollowness of the
system stand openly exposed to the world.
At tais moUentous crisis, and before .ny
measure tc eyer brought forward, | have
chosen to repeat my former opinions, to re-
place them before the eyes of my readers,
and 10 call the attention of these either to
the faihlmcnt or the Justification of my pre-
dictions. My position always has been, and
it stli IS, that either the paper must CONT
nue. in deprecated state, or that the in
tcrest of the debt cannot be paid in full
in other words, that the bank must, in peace
as we'll as in war, continue to be projected
by law against demands Of cash payments,
or that the interest Of the debt must be
lower q.
Al over the country, people are talking
about The lowering IF rents. In some pla.
ccs, landlords are complained of for not
los0eTing. IL Dcyorshire, it appears, that
uian is threatened with prosecution for
~ brl for having attacked 4 landlord on this
score. IL 1910, lord King was abused for
calling upon his tenants to pay rents in spe-
Gle. law was passed to protect tenants
against snch demands. And is it lust, no7v.
10 abuse lord King if he do not reduce his
rents Were the tenants to have all the
advantages of depreciation all the advan-
I ges of high prices? Andis lord King to
have all the disadvantages OF low prices
Ihave before shewn, that to reduce rents
will not better the condition Of the gov
eminent or the fund-hoider but, the
question here is, whether :he tenants can,
il Justice, call upon the landl Jrd to reduce
his rents, as they never rose them ON &C
count of high prices. When men are in
distress, they are out of humor they
have not time ard are not in disposition
to listen to reason. Eight lords protested
against the bill for compelling lordlords to
take payment in paper money and a
ninth, lord Holland, added to his protest
these words: " For the reason assigned on
the o.h,r side, aud because the repeal of
the law suspending bank payments 10 cash,
is, in my ia ginent, Tire only measure 7vlich
can cure the fHconUeHicHcie8 already fet,
and avert the yet greater calamities which
are impending from the present state Of
the c,cul ttion OF the country"
Upon this, observe d, in "Paher against
GU" page 468, as follows: In the pro-
test e the eight peers, heartily concur