The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1849-06-01
COMM ERCTAL.
Nav YoRK, MAY 3O-Wednesday, 4


command of and greater degree of bodnes la
king them the chance of gain. The manifest enden-
of this state of affairs is TO accumulate the hands
producers the wealth which has resulted from the in
dusy of others, and in the long rum poversh the
mass of producers in order appearance
posing wealth in the hands of few Indirect and
overweight credits have made England what isvz
Astounding In wealth. with impoverished people. In the
United States there is less wealth.
comfort among the many The operation of steady indus
Try has created great abundance. and the
ayzaton OF credit in the last few years has its
accumulation by the few the of the many Ac
tuai capital has freely circulated under influence OF the
independent treasury and there has been unreasonable
volume OF credits given exchange industrial products
equivalents have been nerchanged and paper bubbles
have been Inflated to be exploded Under the pressure of
collapse In the London market Amid revolutions and
WILSON'S American prosperity has been steady and pro-
gressve The restless desire of the nonprodueng few to
get possession OF nordnate shares of the general wealth.
prompts the continued projection OF paper schemes by
which that end be attained and systematic attempt
maniles itself in various directions reproduce govern
nent national bank with new name. TheUrst official
of the plan by the Vice President elect
In his report comptroller of tho State of New York
nat plan was simply to authorize the receipt for dues
the of all issued by State banks secured
by United States stock that say, when any bank in
any State dep sites with the of that
amount OF United States stock it shall receive equal
amount oil circulating notes previously and
tersgned in the Treasury Department at Washington
The stock deposited be sold only by order of
rotary of the Treasury when the bank shall have failed
redeem its in specie This the plan in opera
ton in New York. under the law of 1888 authorizing free
banking.
The comptroller seemed to have very accurate idea
of good to be obtained from this increase of the duties
and patronage of the Treasury Department. would,
indeed, allow the stockholders shave their cake, and
it, too" That is, while they drew the per
est regularly, they would have the OF the stock in
paper money, with which to buy stock lend at
per cent. thus earning l3 per cent per annum when
ut,.
cent fhe expense ofthe Treasury department would be
increased thousands of dollars per for the
privilege of recev ing paper dollars instead of gold
This plan has been the basis OF much small shaving in
New York, with very little good resulting. The idea of
applying to the operations of the federal government
originated with l.. Bonneloux, esd appears by his
pamphlet published in 1917 and the Vice President app
pears have been but too happy when Mr. Bonnefoux
came forward this spring. give practical character to
his own crude announcement The New York Courier |
claimed the paternity of the notion, because had
mentioned it about year after Mr.. Bonneloux had
published, in many Of the daily papers, his view
of it, The idea Of making property the basis Of pa
per money is claimed by many paper fnanciers 1t
was first acted upon in the law of New York, passed
1888, making stock and mortgages the security. The
idea however, 50 FAR from being in advance, is only
going back the first prncp consequence oil the
explosion of all attempts make credit PAPER
rency. The first paper that performed the functions of
money bills of eschanRe These represented actual
money Thus, man in Genoa having sum OF money
son, who wanted receive money in Marselles for the
money the spot. This practice was soon universally
adopted in the early ages of commerce Its convenience
was treat The paper based upon actually existing
properly It came be abused by peisoHs selling
orders bills of exchange when no money due them,
in order to raise capital to speculate with These were
called 'kies." This abuse into another-that of
issuing circulate money the credit of the is
suer; that is the belief that lie able pay If de-
mand made. The issue of credit bills of exchange
kites has long been exploded and in Europe the credit of
the stable house would be injured if it offered sell
bill accepted The plan of credit paper money in Eng
land France, and the United States pursued in every
possible form multtdes of theories applied, and
legal restrictions were IMPOSED in the hops Of making
them SAFE These all alike failed, and the conviction
manned that they mist not be Issued credit but upon
actually existing property like original bills Of exchange
On this conviction the law of 1888 New York based
and the Bank of Eng land charter in 1874 followed the
principle, which one, but only going
back old one On the assumption however, that this
is principle, many fantastic schemes have been
ieced Among the most remarkable of thee is that of
John Grey, esd of Edinburgh. He proposes to abolish
the Of gold and silver money establish Irrational
standard bank" which shall issue paper called 'pounds
stering," OF which the foundation shall be weeks factory
labor at arbitrary fixed by lawsay los Hence,
weeks labor would be standard pouud-this money
be ssned without interest," every possesor of prop
erty of all descriptions his valuation When he
sells property he will receive standard notes. and these
he then the bank. Hence, paper would be
created fast production, and be diminished fast
consumption No tightness in the money
ket would result from inability SELL because the
holder Of property would always get what he from
the standard bank little reflection shows the i'm
practcablity OF such notions Nevertheless this plan
prated in France by Prudhon, who changed the name
from STANDARD Bank" Exchange Bank" and the sys-
from equality of exchange" to ''mutuaism of credit
For the rest his propositions nearly those OF Mr. Grey
vz that every having property might 90 to the bank
get bank nominal interest He supposed that
consequence this ability get paper for nothing, the
of real capital would get nothing for the OF it,
viz: that shoemaker could get paper money from the
bank without interest," he would not pay any for
house live in and would be abolished 1t hardly
worth while follow the soning NJ Prudhon, after
organizing the Exchange Bank hrewd enough per-
its mpractcabty and andoned preence that
his theory spoiled by the views of his associates To
those who recognise the great truth that all wealth results
only from industry and that the increase and availability
of real capital and not its paper representative is industry
indebted for its facilities the allacy of these attempts
disaster and prevent the evil consequences ofdefcien
harvests improvdent consumption is easily made APP
parent. 1t is remarkable that the moment when these
schemes for paper money being revived in the United
States gold is becoming daily abundant, If in
mockery OF the puerc attempts suppant agency the
operations of commerce. In New York, Notwithstanding
the advantages that the banking law holds for the
circulation OF notes. the operation of the of the
constitution making stockholders individually liable the
debts of bank issuing notes, has induced of the
bahks--the Bank of Commerce of New York in par
ticulato relnqulsh the notes. and confine