Morning herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1837-1840, 1837-06-23
MORNING HERALD.
FRIDAY, JUNE a3, 1897.
The Great Work begun--Resump tfon o.
Specie Payments--A new specie Circ"iar
1.-The Better Currency.

1.-The Better Currency.
The world is inundated with the specuiauons OF
public men on the best method OF resuihins specie
payments and restoring sound currency. Mr. van
Barren has issued circulars and proclamatlons-Mr.
Biddle letters to j. q. Adams-Condy Racquet COM
munications to the newspapers-Col Benton letters
10 a friend-Senaor Tallmadge epstles to the Argus,
and Gen. Hamilton, of South Carolina, a long anna
teur message TO the next Congress.
These men are all talk and theory-not practice or
PHILOSOPHY will myself have TO take the matter in
hand, and lead the way to method of resump-
ton of specie payments and restoration of uniform
currency | have deeply studied the subject and
come to the point at once, on the real Baconan sys-
TEN of induction and fact.
Up to this day have been receiving paper money
par with legal coin in payments at my ONCE
Yet the variation between the paper and the me-
tac cuencies is equal per cent paper money De-
ing al that discount compared with specie OF coii
From this confusion of the two currencles arise al
the practical difficulties in making and hndlng cnahse
and in conducting the daily transactions III town OF
country. Paper money is worth something. IL IS
the representative of property, recoverabeb by law IL
IS not the representative of coin payable on demand
Therefore passes at certain discount from coin-
Now the great evil of any currency is want OF uni
formy, causing vibration and alienation In prices,
and sometimes efacing, by its mutablity, all the true
notions of value. TIE transact business correctly we
must have some standard of value. The mint half
dollar, dollar, half eagle and eagle, are American
standards. There is no necessity therefore, to de-
part from this rule and the sooner we understand our
position and return to it the better.
An example in practice of these principles will bet
ter illustrate their operation.
Hereafter l shall receive the usual current paper
money in payments made at my office, only al lis
Lue in coin as indicated the rates giren By the bull
lion brokers in Wall street. New York city bills
will be received tomorrow at SO cents per doar-New
England bills Sc cents per dollar-Safey Fund bills
Sc cents per dollar-and Unitsd States Bank bills at
SIS cents per dollar, Mr. Biddles bank being in bad
condition. hese rates their exact value yester
day in Wall street. They worth no more in coin,
and shall not receive them for more in any pay
ments to be made TO When the price of paper
rises, l will give more-whcn it falls less.
All news carriers, news boys, subscribers, advert-
sers will therefore please to consider the
of paper money in Wall street, the terms and condi-
tons on which business is hereafter to be transacted
at BEssErrs GREAT NEWSPAPER ESTABLISHMENT.
Now for the philosophy Of the thing. We give the
and mode for preserving the legal standard of value
applicable to all alike Bank notes have deprecated
but they snll have their value. Why should they
pass nomnally for more than that value? BY pay
ing and receiving them at the current coin in
dicated by the bullion brokers of Wall street, hare
al paper currency redeemabie in specie de-
mand and sufficiently stable 10 ans,oer all The purpo
ses Of trade till the BANKS Dey can, be able TO
resume paying specie at their oHn counters. re-
ceive five dollar note at "a 40 legal Standard being
at IL per cent dscomt-or "a So if i, be at 10 per
cent. In a Wall street bullion Office can convert
his note into coin at for the amount at which
look it. BY this plan il will be perceived we have
paper currency redecmable in SPECIE and thus show
ng that all the bankers, politicians, and fnanciers,
IRE ignorant Of their position. BY this means all the
wills which are caused by an ire ieemabe paper
ency, in altering the standard Of value producing
fluctuations in price, may be obvlate9.
From their writings and conduct, IT really appears
that neither President Van Buren, nor President Bid
die know the philosophy Of currency, exchange, or
paper money. When the President issued his orders
receive nothing but specie al the custom house, he
showed his utter ignorance of the subject. He ought
to have embraced, in that ORDER permission 10 the
collectors to receive all the notes of the city banks at
their current metallic value in Wall street. This would
at once have given them currency and value, and
perhaps prevented, in part, the great depreciation
which has taken place.
In other and higher points Of view, the course which
have adopted in the management of my own bust
ness is founded on the srictest principles of science
and sound political economy.
1t is utterly impossible in the present state OF the
world to conduct business a metallic currency
alone. Coin can emily form a small portion of the
great agent Of commerce. We must have paper Gre
dIt-bls OF exchange, and bank notes of some kind
II is a matter Of little importance whether paper mo-
ney be issued by corporations or individuals; and
what is still more il is not perhaps, matter of much
whether il is redeemable in coin for
long ime or perchance ever al all II the ultimate
basis Of paper currency is good property and tangl-
bic, that is quite sufficient for all present practical
purposes In consequence however, OF not being re-
deemabe in specie, on demand, bank bulls fall below
their nominal value. But this depreciation does not
unfit the paper for circulation, provided they cur
rent only at the rates for which they will command
the specie at the bullion offices. BY taking and re-
ceivng bank notes at their current specie value,
which may be 10 TO Is per cent discount from their
nominal value, We only place them on the same foot
ing on which bills Of exchange and promissory notes
h<an Ia IF tha fafflprg