The Ohio star. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1830-1854, 1854-02-22

that panic On this point fortify myself BY the
sss agIhosy Of Senator Was On ga me 2aa
Senate stating that Senator Thurman, in his CAM
pffn speeches, had characterized the panic as the
result OF effort 1orce the resumption of specie
pigments In reply the Senator denounced this
stennent as untrue declared that he never uttered
fut ciearness the real causes OF the panic
namely, oyertrading running too much in
pres and notably in the North Pacific Railroad en-
terrise. These were the causes Wh ieh the senator
asneq for The ganie r. i M 100 asse ln The day
Of this country upon the resumption Jaw. They
SPEAK of "mercless contraction. !. and would have
haf9 hines is caused by insnfeient circulating
mealum deny in toto the truth Of this allegat1on
ofia1 reports of the S0th of June last it appears
thEf Ehere are now outstanding in this country
s6 900 OF paper currency, worth 80 II cents on
the dpar Its real purchasing power is, therefore,
900 There has been hut one year in cur
ID when The pgichasing power OF our peI,sS
Is ban DE se.:lstafs of fke fiessnf spad
Valf5of our f@ps h.s been lnote than
CO ,ensated bS de crease Of its power
IS shsss s rounds our g''s
De public fhith demands it. By all the
soa1 pledges which Nation can give the rest95a ts
greiibnck was issued. That promise ought to have
best Kept long ago. and 1t is as unpatriotic as is
Second-1he highest interests, both of labor and
of capital demand resumption Uncertainty is the
wort element that can enter into the business cal
cuiations OF men. and the uncertainty which leeis-
latfoB brings is the worst form of uncertainty The
goyernnent must get out of the way and let pros
pefty return 1t do this best by putting II out
OF she power OF Congress 70 change our standard OF
Ti,ird1Ths II chief hardships of resumption have
alfyady been endured. When the law was passed in
lss5s our paper money was at discount OF IL per
beiSr month Si by month ont until % now il IS but hall
cent below par The short step to stability and GER
tarfy wiz hurt far less than to rerace our steps and
plunge back again into the evils fromwhich we have
escaped should we now retreat the unsettled
transactions of the last year would be thrown into
utter confusion. five now abandon the attempt at
res1inpfiop the future viii be clouded with an un-
Certainty that will destroy confidence and prevent
the return Of prosperity
suil3ption law as inefficient Now they denounee it
for ats efficiency. They know that its enactment
ressSEe. The balance Of trade now largely in our
fav IS adding 70 our stock of the precious metals
the viii be added to pur effective currency the
whDle volume Of our coin The Democracy would
better eR aee to t8 MAKE o Mo rn
WEk,n Tesump fEis5Fiifg Tsllss
T Il s ps q f fss Ss dSs % a the
resumption law should succeed, it would make the
gresnback dollar poorer, and make the circulation
ohis country want their money to shrivel in their
hands, let them help to prevent resumption. If
they want it to become as good the best and
Law as it is.
he resumption act did not provide for the de-
strhetipD of the greenback currency As construed
by hhe administration it left $1,000 900 of green
baeks 10 be kept in circulation. By act OF the
present Congress the amount to be kept in circula-
doh after resumption is S346 100000 While do not
beheve in the government turning banker and be-
coming permanent issuer of currency am will
ingffor the present at least, to maintain as many
grnbacks in circulation as can be kept at par with
Sae Ro a beeom pan a eaus
to eoin. This the Ohio Democrats oppose
ekEENBAcKs m PLACE on NATIONAL BANK NOTES
Fearing that even by the repeal Of the resumption
ae1shey may not now be able tg prevent the restor
alton OF specie payments. the Ohio Democracy are
der resumption impossible. They demand the
abolition OF the nationa1 banks and issue of S32
o bg ee os g Ss
First-Thsf it is fiat violatioR Of the Constffnr
uda Every Democratic member Of the Supreme
Cezrt has declared that even our present issue OF
gsfAnbaeks is unconstitutional The majority OF
th& court defended them only as war measure
di Issue d, ,grsa1baeks is time Of peace. Gen
has adm this 40F last Tinter he
iSIs IN g $
make the issue of Treasury notes lawful in time of
peace; yet the Democracy demand just this uncon-
Second-The proposed substitution renders re-
sumption impossible. AS the law now stands, the
government must maintain SS46,OO0000 of green
backs at par with coin, and the Treasury is amply
able to do it. The national banks are required to
mdrcn ABREAST WIFI LQG government, ana at Lne1r
own expense keep their own notes at par. The
Democracy propose to release the banks from this
duty and throw the whole burden upon the Treasu-
ry and the people. By an additional issue of $52.-
100000 of greenhacks. they make the Treasury re-
sponsible for maintaining $3.50, 100000 of paper.
Every intelligent man knows that the Treasury can
not keep so large volume at par.
Third-This substitution would entail grievous
burdens upon the taxpayers OF the country. As the
law now stands greenbacks exempt from taxa
ton. Poor men, who hold but few, gain little ad-
vantage from this exemption; but it is a well known
caDitaliSts to their SurDlnS m
into greenbacks on the day when the State assess
ment for taxation is to be made and thus escape a
large sh re of the public burdens. Both the stock
and notes ofnational banks subject to heavy
alton. The government taxes their circulation and
the States tax their stock and outstanding notes
From 1866 1876 inclusive, the States and the
ton received S1S 900 600 of taxes from the national
and create in its stead a privileged currency of
1924 O0O, 600, which will be exempt from taxation.
IN tb ,rotinn NJ tha retcheG Stat b @
that prevailed before the war. No man of intell-
gence will pretend that the business of this country
can be carried on without banking facilities. Sta
tistics show that nearly 80 per cent. of our ex-
changes carried on by means of bank Checks
drafts and commercial bills, and only 10 per cent
bv the actual use of money. For the uses OF mod
ern exchange the bank is as necessary the rail-
road is for Transportation Now we have a uniform
system, open to all citizens carefully guarded by
national legislation, which makes the billholder
more secure than any banking system this country
has ever known. and which greatly increases the
security of depositors. The people must choose be-
tween this national system and the old State system
WnlCn, IN OIleT years. tue 10 Sucn 1atal
results. Who does not remember that the old
State bank represented all varieties OF condition
and credit. They solvent suspended
closed, wound up, broken, as the wisdom or folly
the honesty rascality of their managers dictated
Their notes had no uniformity of value and nearly
all of them, especially in the West and South lost
heavily in value when carried beyond the limits of
the State in which they were issued. Examine
Bank Note Reporter for 1860 and consider the mass
of trash that constituted the paper currency of the
country. In only nine States of the Union did the
law require tine circulation to be secured by State
h0nds 1881 lS63 there nina
failures of Illinois banks. Within that period the
holders of Illinois currency lost S3,6OOOOO by
the failure and depreciation of the notes.
beside the still greater loss to depositors and Gus
toners. OF thirty-sx broken banks of Wisconsin
during the same period, only six redeemed their
notes at so high rate eighty cents on the dollar
Even in 1860 the report of eighteen States showed
that out of ,231 banks, 14T broken, 234 we're
closed, and 1S1 were nearly worthless.
Fifth-A fatal objection to the substitution of
greenbacks for national bank notes is this that it
makes complete divorce between the business of
the country and the volume of its circu-
latiug medium: Now, under free bank
ieh to NJ b,1si.