The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-02-12
HH FOR THE MADlsoNIAN.
CALL TO THE JN:aTIO.N
A PLAN FOR AN UNIVERSAL CURRENCY
BASED UPON PROPERTY.
Coacludedl
FOR THE MADIsONIAN
PHILADELPHIA, January /, l941.

accumulallng treasury. The money require Is
Exchequer bills, bearing no interest redeemable
demand and it is essential the issue of those bills for
the repayment of which the and public do
mains of the United States pledged, should be
made to anticipate the annual
there is occasion fol- treasury of public deposes.
Our object is the stability of credit. 1t is upon pro-
perty monetary system must be predlcated, and by
credit the system must become available for current
purposes. We doubt the expedency of a promise
to pay gold and silver, though We hold ourselves
obliged to do so optionaly; to presuppose an ability
to pay in gold and silver the amount of Exchequer
bills necessary for the free promotion of Pecunary m
tercourse, liquidation of the liabilities ofdebtor and
creditor and relief of all fiscal necessities IN COM
muny of Is 900, 900 luxurious and civilized beings,
implies an mpossibty Our present banking capital
! when MrTyer came into office was estimated at
$3.50 900 0OO which is amount probably necessary
for the necessities of the country and far exceeds all
| the gold and silver in the country.
To provide the means of cheap and safe exchange
necessary consequence of universal credit and not
the motive of fiscal legislation. The object we have
to consider is the furnishing paper circulation of
| universal credit" The funds orExchequer bills will
be employed in exchange and in fiscal intercourse OF all
kinds by the individuals concerned in such transac
tions and neper by the principle of ISSUE The govern
ment draw water out Of the well to the surface the
husbandman operative Directs the in"igorating
dum into the ferzng cannes his necessities require!
First, how the Exchequer bills to become
circulating medium BY what process is the first i'm
pulse be given that shall drive through the arteries
of fiscal economy with recurrent and responsive VI
gor, the vivifyng principle! Our Exchequer bills
are prepared for delivery. To whom shall they be
distributed? They are like ,altorougM mine of
gold, of silver of "copper" of iron, store of cot
ton, tobacco sugar, SC. equivalent to all or each,
every of which they represent on the faith Of
credit discounts prohibited there are therefore
no borrowers. Suppose Jumps OF gold and silver,
and "copper" were dug from the mine and placed in
our mint we coin the metal into eagles, dollars and
cents, for the facilities of division how is the coin
age placed in circulation? The old pieces are called
in l. exchange is made, qid pro quo is effect
ed-n fact you sell the new coin, taking the old in
payment. Do so with the Exchequer bills-sell them
and take gold and silver in exchange-et your capi-
tai be expressed by ExPEpIENCY-sell an amount for
cash, sufficient with the amount of Government dis
bursemens to establish an interchange OF fiscal IN
tercourse-the amount of Government disbursements
will send the bills into the hands of the army and ma
W. and all officers subordinates and attaches of the
political system. But all these claimants can de-
mand or circulate-and all that would be purchased
by gold and sllverpayment will not relieve the MS
cal distress of our country. The principal Of loans
must be adopted, and the receipts must be in bond
and mortgage upon property valued at the taxable as
sessment rate one half of which should be the maxi
mum of loans, or the interest Of bond and mortgage,
hypothetical produce gold and silver, and cop
per and ron and cotton and sugar tobacco and co
fee and manufactures-anda all PRoPERTY-but no GER
tifcates of stock; promissory notes of banks and
individuals; projected railroads in the moon, or
here upon the earth; artificial rain companies in
romance or commonplace; but bona fde property,
the only available and Just security. Upon this prin
ciple issue the Exchequer bills to the full extent Of
the demand, and the circulating medium will become
the representative of convertible property none
tary system stable the earth We ask the United
States Government to provide us with circulating
medium, based upon property and here is a prece-
dent of the requisite relief. Suppose 35,O00,OO0
dollars worth of public lands is transferred to the
State of Pennsylvania-there is no occasion to
have these lands surveyed, the transfer should
! be made by scrp-there can be no doubt OF
the existence Of the public domain of its extent
and the holder of Treasury bills enters up
and sues out his clam he has the choice OF selection
by priority of judgment The real estate is, in fact
bona de fair security for the amount is assessed at
but this amount of gold and silver cannot be
by those who desire to purchase, and the lands are
useless as medium of exchange and transfer Now,
let the United States Government issue Exchequer
Bills to the amount of S350O0,O0O, take the lands
from the State of Pennsylvania security, and hand
over their notes to the State thus extngushng the
State debt and enabling the State to pay her liabi
ties by an universal tender stabiated upon proper
ty so let the same be proposed to all the
States; but the United States should go no farther
Let us have no bank of discount, exchange and depo
site as national institution, however constitutional
the measure may be- of which there is much reason
to doubt there cannot be any question about the inu
tility of such institution; a bank OF this kind is
utterly unnecessary, for when adequate medium
or from agraran resources, or from manufactures
and mechanics, by the developments of human labor,
and creation of property or when the representative
of this paper, in the form OF EXchequer bills, is
placed in circulation, life, vigor and activity will
pervade the masses of population. The dry beds
of commercial rivers will again flow full of the fiscal
tide and prosperity of the body polite flourish in the
general working of healthy system as the clear,
ruddy countenance of youth turgd with the circu-
lation of sanguineous nutrition Then the Treasury
notes added to the gold and the silver will drive out
fictitious credit and shall no more have an inef
fcient and irresponsible promise to pay, but true
and unfaling medium of circulation, no less neces-
sary for the fiscal intercourse OF life, than the sea
for commercial interchange in the mercantile world,
| When bills shall have been issued from the United
States Treasury, dispersed through the States and
dused among the people, the post office will regulate
the exchanges, each agent can remit his funds to any
part of the Union through the post without discount
or premium. And if large portion of the State
debts is due to foreigners who will not give their
confidence to any fiscal arrangement originating
existing in America, let those creditors purchase and
take away cotton or any raw material that may suit
their demand, thus doubly benefting the community
first, by leaving the circulating medium undimnished
and secondly, by encouraging agrarian industry
through the expectation of agricultural produce.
Open your fiscal legislation by prohibiting the ex-
portation of gold and silver, and this measure alone
I when the medium of circulation is eliminated VIM
force foreign creditors to take our agrarian pro-
duce and manufactures for the liquidation of their
claims.
No more then of reputation The political body
that repudates its debts becomes the disreputable
subject of opprobrium The political body that re-
pudates its honor becomes outcast from the
gregation of nations. 1t is audacious breach Of
international law for nation to repudate debt to
another nation, or the subjects thereof What have
been the consequences the justifable and expedient
consequences of the Chinese seizure of British prop
erty, and refusal to pay for the same' Reprsas on
{ the part of the British government-and so long
Eng land confines her demands to her claims of res
tuition she has right on her side in the dispute with
China
j What resulted from the attempt at reputation on
tho nnrt of France when the claims of the limited