The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1847-11-08
The Currency Question.

place OF meeting yesterday was the Crown and Anchor
Tavern Strand and the room engaged was well flled,
here being about 200 persons present At the table
observed besides the speakers Msssrs John Taylor of
Upper Cover street) A. spottis xoods, + Collier, -
Edwards and flor part Of the EVENING" Mr. T. C. An
Mr. BEsrooH the President Of the League, on taking
the chair stated that this the drst proper meeting
Of the association Since they had met the former
occasion the number Of failures had sadly increased
(Heer, hear Our manufacturers had at this moment
large orders labor abundant food cheap and what
to prevent the country being prosperous? simply
able In Lombard street aud that particular nsighbor
hood owing to the want Of gold and OF
why should We base al our CON nsros upon
much the gold In the country and why should
the value Of these depend entirely upon the value of
goldf Hear, hear The natural frame could not long
60 with the circulation Of the blood in unhealthy
state; and In the body commercial ought to have
circulating medium that had disposition to become
seoretsd boarded The present distress was not from
the want Of sucient property but from the want Of
healthy circulation. (fIesr, hssr) Ovsrproduction
half fed and half Glad As to ovsr-spsouistion
some gentlemen seemed to think that would be n good
thing TO have sborers out OF employ land that could
feed them better II they were to work Issr hsor
IL was dsporabe that merchants 80 he,ic
otsympahy In faot he (Mr Bennoch) learned that ia
Liverpool 1t had been Intended to call a meeting bu,
that four or i've Of the largest merchants had deter
mined o postpone It. lest through moving in the ues-
ton they might be considered be in emb ERASED
circumstances. tHesr) MIR Allison showed, in his
History Of Europe that 30 200 900 population
about EI0000 900 OF oircnlaen but bad 600 900
OF population with only Gao 100000 Of circulation -
Qiear) The views Of the League were supported by
far greater portion Of tho public than could have
been anticipated and he (Mr. Bennoch) thought the
leading journal OF Europe only waiting favorable
opportuniy to come round to them (Hear, hear) He
hen proceeded to complain Of the ridicule by the
Times the proposal Of the League lad to urge that
our distress arose from present monetary system
and from that cause only 1t wonder to him, how
thinking men could allow themselves to be chained to
this leg of Sir r. Peel Here were of our great
landed proprietors already obliged to ay the country
and their estates IN the hands of the bulonis
power OF the country Not that he (Mr. Bennoch had
taken advantage Of law In their favor probably there
was not present who would object make his
thousand pounds at the expense OF the rest Of the popu
ation, he did 1t egmately under the authority Of
act Of Psrament. (fiesr) bat It wss the interest Of
the whole kingdom that there should bs proper ebuu-
dant, and unfuctusting currency CHEERS
Mr.. J. DUNCAN thsn rose to explain the principles
upon which the League was founded Money must not
DC eoniounded with currency the former was dis
tnguished by Its being legal tender and ought to bs
issued only by the Crown The issue ought bs limited
to the annual amount of taxation The Queen ought
not to demand taxes In any other form than in British
produce ancicntly they were paid In kind and when
Henry required them to be paid la he did not
call for foreign metal but Issued Exchequer talies or
sticks which legal tender for and for debts
clear, hear The League confined itself to proposing
similar legal tender money, or taxation money to
currency II held that the subject had right to
transact direct barter without the intervention Of the
Crown, 50 had he right to any instrument He
cline to decide that all pri,at. bsnHers .soOid give
security to the Government either In the shape of
land consos and that their notes shall bear Govern
ment stamp In order to certify their gnuineness the
members Of the League would not object to that sar
But 1t said that the proposed money
would he d-p~-cated IL world not CLEAR, hsar) Why
had the Industrious GLASSES right to this system Of
alton money The national debt be diech arged
out Of property, and not cue Of labor (Hesr hear
The property classes however not only failed to redeem
tho debt at the close Of the but abolished the pro-
psYty tax because 1t was war tax--the debt
manning AS to subsequent purchasers In the funds,
whoever purchased the securities of an Indebted
ment clothed himself with the liabilities or that govern
msnt hea) every liable for hts share of this
public debt and II it would take 10 per cent on property
to pay It, the nominal proprietor Of f00 only pro
pristor Of 500 because he owed ElO to the State Hear
hear suPposng this paper money depreciatrd 1t
would only be deprecated to the amount national in
debtednsss (tIsar, hear) Mr.. Huski.sons statement
about depreciation during the was erroneous The
bank note said to be deprecated after the suspeu
sion OF cash payments, because instead Of bank note
and shilling 1t required bank-note and eight shil-
ngs to buy grinea but the statement should be- that
required bank-note and eight shllipgs to buy 1919
graiDs OF gold that commodity having risen in price
the appreciation of iity gold not the dapre
citation of the paper pote (Hear) 1t was said that
bank notes were issued in excess Why when govern
ment wanted money they went to the bank, and depo
sited exchsquer bills and the bank holding these large
notes issued its small notes but to greater ex
tent than It held exchequer bills The average amount
of unfunded debt from 1871 to 1897 fi3 900 e0O
1898 to 1904 f23 900 O0O 1905 to 1871 ear 00000O 1912
to 1918, ESQ 0OoO0O; but the banknote circulation 10
those periods was only 900 000 O00 fl9O00
600, and $4,000 900. (Hear, hear But, there was
another OF showing that there depreciation
alienation la l7s4 $780, was Ia oO0 1901 1877
fl9OOO,000; l79s to 1904 ESQ OOO0 1905 to 1911,
f47 100000; 1912 to 1918, Goa 900 900. But, the
hank note circulation In those periods was only ES-
900 900 fll0O0 00O els 100000, fl9 900 0O0 and f26
O000 900. (Helr, hear) Nay, the bank not only did
trad 1t did all It could to compel the govern
ment to practice rigid economy and directors told
Lord Liverpool the 9Th Of July lsi4 that they could
not grant further advances and expected such ar
rangements to be made should eff very consider
able reduction Of the existing advances. Ths League
would deliver the government from disgraceiul posi-
ton, and from such monsrous proportions "a that Of
stopping oil the railway works, and thu. throwing AGO.,
900 persons upon the poorrates and all because there
not gold enough In the country People seemed to
think could do nothing without gold. WHY, Edin
burgh Gasyo and Aberdeen were built with paper;
the Clyde rendered navigabe by paper daughter
ana cheers) Givegseand the some opportunity by
proper money system rase the price Of labor to renu
neratiDg point and rive stimulus to industry aud Pad
dy would prove equal to John Bull Oisar hear.) The
he who drew all his dividends In gold would have to
take them in paper pounds and if Of those pounds
in SOVEREIGN he would have to pay In this shape the
tax he owed to the people of this country, and that
would be just depreciation. tHear) II the example
Of other countries to be referred to- let u bs
bered that the American colonies cultivated with
paper and the soppage Of that system lost US those col
ooies David Hume, writing TO the Able Morel!et re.
marked, that In Pennsylvania planter purchasing
land would receive from public office notes to the
amount OF half the value Of the land, which notes
would circulate throughout the colony by conven.
tom the notes to be paid into the Office ia ten
years. To show what great things could be done
With nothing ~ augh) 1t might be mentioned that In
Guernsey, fifteen years sgo tn States determined to
build q market and the baif raid the builder in 1000
81 notes lot bearing iutersst Issued by the Govern
ment for the purpose the stalls let for 400
and one-tenth OF the notes retr every year by
means Of the rent, and now n" h.bitants had the
fi00 year clear gain Why Ell o'' not we upon rail.
way notes. construct railway 70 Edinburgh without
costing anybody fsrthing pay the notes out Of the rs
fares and then reduce the fares to fraction OF Tar.
thing per mile! (Cheers) Free trade, with hx-d
mint price OF gold, must he destructive TO native indus
try. Suppose hat could be produced for sovcreirn
4 our producer had to pay 80 per mt In the snsi
Indirect taxation. he would want JOS Tor nst,
only way to enable him 10 got IL would be- hre trad"
were allowed to pay the foreign hat maker m spsr nos
for 3Os for which he would only get soveresn 10 goa
Hear hsar All the nations ofant'quity we're ussuoy
cd through their money laws and th- same m,e s~st
cd u.s. unless sir Peels system were aboiisnrd but
under the plan proposed the country could be to
pitch Of unspsaksble power and grandeur ana hsppi
ness. Cheers
II In answer to question Mr., poNcAy added that the
proposed Exchequsr notes would not bear interest
MIR JoHs BELL then addressed the meeting. The sup
porters OF the present system held that cspa the
only sound basis of trade, and that gold was the only
hind Of capital existing the world and 10 followed