Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-02-26

~ ana II it contains three hundred nnd .ss. a -
aI ~ , ana will take just y $50 - ~ o@h q
:u la and ordinary trans 1hfcS1 ~ ~. ~ ~
Win be dherent in more extents{ ts,cc 49, !
uons, ina' may be readily show IL cs H~S3s <s- ~.
nto ' ths u a. t comes from tho eaals W ~ 4
;t w hes ~ .he morning aud nay yoor hufAiSc X,
instance, debt of five dollars il fiis 49, ~
nesnpors go 10 market and do the anna 1hfr< 49,
pu.oner receives u without OBJECTION and rivSS ~ 81
many Pouhds oil pee Tor IL for any other cc1n no
butcher accumuates few hundred dollars & ~ u 49,
guy "ei ne goes into the country TO buy ha cn&1lo ~
6 6ags out tins currency in sums q hrss
dollars ne must pay the seven per cent.
we are trying TO make specie parake Of ne enFoetsr
OF deprecated paper That is the tendency Ok MI pro
posed legislation. 7'TT ~
If the commercial world agrees nnon te vai,.
OF silver and gold and upon the number OF grains each
piece OF coin shall contain to make 1t marketable that
settles set the whole matter your sg:s
which arises from the expense Of transit
Congress has power to fix the standard Of weights and
measures. And | remarked before, suppose Congress-
take notion to change this relative yalas OF silver and
gold of one to sixteen Our gold fields this year will
produce certain amount next year they will produce
perhaps double the quantity and you say yo1 pass
law to regulate its value silver, which has not as
rapidly increased But any law you pass win do
It, Suppose for instance, your crop Of corn this
five millions of bushels and your wheat two and half
miions year the crop of corn is seven and half
millions Of bushels, and the wheat crop still two and
half millions before the relative antty il changed
and to bring the standard of up that the wheat
you change the bushe measure Of the to keep the
ative standard the Now how would The arrange
ment operate You bring both the wheat and the corn
into market The standard by which you measure the
wheat is changed and for the money you do not get
as much wheat you did before. Is that so, and
are not the two precisely analogous Money
tains grains, and bushels contain inches. bushe of
grain containing only thousand square inches would
not sell for as much as bushel containing double tho
number of inches
You may and attempt legis!ate upon this sub
ect and still the laws Of trade and py
the whole meter hhF @ Best thing xe could do would
be to strike these hreecent pieces out Of existence and
to substitute hreecent pieces containing exactly the pro-
per quantity of alloy Let your half dollar quarter dol
lar dime and half dime bear the proportion Of al
10y, and then you will have firm and stable currency
which the people understand, and which, in the CONNER
cia world would be of settled and uniform standard of
value What its worth will be- and what it will pass for
is matter to be settled by the commercial world and no
legislation in the world alter it.
The time allotted for the consideration of this subject
here expired, and on the following day
Mr. JOHNSON resumed his remarks as follows: When |
the morning hour expired yesterday proceeding to
discuss the bill now under consideration, which provides
for the issuance of description of coin differing
from any that we have had heretofore.
The gentleman from New Jersey mr. SKELroN) as
sumed that our present currency defective and that
as was opposed to the proposition before us was
bound to furnish another remedy Now sir do not adj
nit that proposition at all. If there is defect in the
currency and if something is necessary be DONE that
does not prove that the remedy proposed is the right
and If it is not the right one Why might Just as well
let the currency remain it is adopt something
which seems to be remedy, but which really will only
increase the disease. The gentleman think that
am bound to offer remedy. Well, that is only another
evidence of the quackery of the times If person goes
into room where there is sick man. he may feel his
pulse may look at his tongue, and examine all the
symptoms and yet not understand the charac
ter of the disease But is he bound to administer rem
edy without understanding the case because the man is
diseased? hope at all events, that may be kept out
of the hands of such doctors that 1t to me that
IN such the proper course would be for the physi
cian to retire. and say " do not understand the case
and leave the patient just he found him. Well in this
case, have got remedy prefer to act the part of
prudent phys and to retire do not understand
the case, will not attempt to administer the disease
Bat the gentleman says there is disease, and that it
results from the great increase in the commodity of gold
In that think he is mistaken | humbly conceive that
the gentleman does not understand the proposition it
is assume here, and defy successful retutation Of it,
that the quantity of gold may be increased upon that of
silver without changing the relative commercial value
the metals We in the United States have about one hun
dred and seyentyfve millions of paper in circulation
Now if Congress the States had the power to drive
that one hundred and seventyve millions of paper from
circulation and introduce hundred and seventy
millions of gold to fill the created by the with
drawal OF the paper circulating medium, l say that,
though you would increase the quantity gold the rea-
tive commercial value Of gold and silver would be the
same Notwithstanding the relative quantities would be
changed the relative commercial value would stand
DID before defy contradiction of that proposition.
The gentleman from New Jersey has imagined disease
when none exists lie is doctorng and giving his medi
cines to a who is well. Now if the man is well
think is best to let him remain So and
re
SO far coin is concerned the changing Of our stand
ard of gold silver has effect upon the gold and
silver coinage of the United States than change in the
standard OF weights and would have upon the
price of cotton wheat Let us take the case of
wheat as illustration A standard bushel of wheat
now contains two thousand hundred and fifty cubic
inches We usually consider wheat good that weighs
sixtyhve pounds to the bushel But Notwithstanding
that that is standard bushe when you take wheat to
Great Britain what do they do Are they regulated by
the measure here? No, SIR they give you so much for
your wheat per quarter, requiring eight bushels the
quarter, and that it shall weigh seventy pounds bushe
Notwithstanding that you have established standard of
measure here, you regulated by the market where
you propose to send the article Just so with your gold
and silver You may put four hundred and twelve grains
in silver dollar and two hundred and fifty eight grains
in gold fye-doar piece, change it in any way you
think proper but you will still be regulated by the stand
ard where you undertake sell the article or to crcu
late it.
But, sir the great into which the introducers and
advocates Of this bill have fallen is this They say that
there is demand for specie abroad that premium is
paid for it for the purpose Of expectation and that
must do something to keep specie in the country and in
attempting to initiate what Great Britain has done far
her silver currency is concerned, they have adopted
precisely the opposite How does the matter stand
in Great Britain and why does this difference exist be-
tween of silver and Of gold in Great
Britain 1t will be remembered that silver is not
rency there in the payment of debts dollars
forty shilngs Great Britain says that silver shall be
legal tender in the payment Of debts under dollars
both 10 The Government and iqdiUduals and the Govern
ment is bound to redeem it in god which always keeps
silver at par and in circulation. But what the propo
sition here? Are gentlemen following the example of
Great Britain No they have taken the converse of the