Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-12-01

for knaves with nothing but brass for their capital
and that in their faces instead Of their Golfers are
induced TO set mp manufactures Of small paper TO be
sent abroad and sunk upon the hands Of those among
Ahom it is scattered ali that is sunk being clear
gains the manufacturer. :. It induces and even
compels people to be wasteful of their money; for
such is the natural, honest and just contempt and
distrus Of small notes. that he she that receives
one hurries of to lay it out for something not need
ed, while piece of gold Of the same amount would
be valued and cherished and laid By and added to,
until enough accumulated to make purchase of
something needed and useful. 8. 1t subjects the
payer to be cheated or WOrsted in change for, Civ
ing paper in payment he must receive the change IN
other paper and for this purpose the meanest, most
ragged, dirty, and worthless viii always be picked
out and showed upon him. In short, such are the
evils the crimes, the Generalization, and cheating
of small paper money, that all nations, except the
United Safes place in the category of criminal
agent, and suppress it accordingly.
TWenty-odd years ago, when were laboring to
restore the constitutional currency of the Govern
meDt aud the people, the ready objection, repeated
By all the friends Of paper money, was that there
was gold and silver IN the world to carry the
business of the United States; andt the ready
to that objection was, that there precisely
enough and that exactly enough would come to the
United States if we would only create demand for
it by correcting the gold standard, make 1t the Gov
ernment currency, and suppressing small paper.
Only part OF these things have been done, and
there have flowed into the United States or been OBJ
tanned from our own mines, about four or five times
as much gold as the business Of the United States
could employ The supply has been nearly thou
sand millions of dollars and the business of the u
States would only employ about two hundred millions
This is not guess work, but bottomed upon anthem
tic data; for the statistics Of political economy show
that nations can only certain amounts of money,
some more, some less according TO their pursuits
Thus, highly manufacturing country, where the
employer needs money necessarily to carry on his
business in the purchase Of raw materials, and the
payment of operatives, and ia the construction or
repair of buildings and machinery, and where the
operatives themselves need money daily for the sup
port of their families the quantity of money requlr-
ed is far greater than in agricultural aud plant
ing country, where the farmer raises his own sup
Plies and has his crops and produce to pay large de-
mands
And therefore, England the foremost manufactur-
ing country; requires the greatest amount Of money;
and has it, to Uit, about eleven dollars head; and
Russia so largely agricultural requires the least
amount of money, and can employ but about four
dollars head So the United States, in small part
manufacturing, andlargey agricultural and planting,
woull fndhermaximum demand for money somewhere
half way between the two-say, eight dollars ahead
which, at the present amount Of the white pOpula-
ton (say twenty-five millions,) would give Two
hundred millions the national demand, always
remembering that the great payments made with
crops and bills of exchange founded the proceeds
of industry. And thus it becomes proposition
demonstrated that the United States, since the
recton of the gold standard twenty three yearsag
have received supply of gold to four five times
the amount which the business operations Of the
people could employ. OF that amount the leading
banks estimated TWO hundred and ninety millions 10
be remaining in the country at the commencement
of the present panic and since that time more than
twelve millions have arrived, and very little gone
out; so that three hundred millions would be the
present estimate of the amount of gold and silver in
the country; being one hundred millions mere than
the business of the country would employ. Three
hundred millions is exactly fifteen times as much as
the United States possessed in the time of the late
Bank of the United States. Twenty millions was
the whole amount to that time, and that all in silver
not particle Of gold being then in circulation And
it is exactly thirty times as much tie whole
Union possessed the time the termination of the
first National Bank; the whole supply being then
but ten millions, and that all silver
Under these circumstances, 1890, 600 600 in gold
in the country, peace prosperity throughout Europe
and America, great crops and good health, there
was nothing in the state Ofthe country to justify the
suspension anything to justify its continuance.
The only solution of such catastrophe is the obvi
Gus one TO git, the failure of bad banks aad the
consequent run which their failure made upon the
good ones. The iasolvent pulled down the solvent;
and the Legislatures of several States have put all
association The living body should not be tied to
the dead one. The solvent should recommence their
payments, aud make visible the broad line between
the sound and the rotten which the Legislatures have
covered up; and public sentiment would then soon
dispose of the latter in spite Of legislative indulgence
The solvent banks can and viii resume, and that
will Salty those who do not look beyond the evil Of
the day; but to those who look ahead and seenew
evils in the perspective and to the legislative power
whose duty is provide against evils before they
happen something will be seen 10 be necessary.
A recurrence of such calamities, in the view of all
such, shopd be guarded against and thatcan effect
ually be done by two act Of Federal legislaton-a
stamp-duty paper currency, and bankrupt law
against bankrupt banks.
There is not monarch in Europe who would treat
his subjects, suffer them to be treated, as the
people of the United States treated by the base
TT Of their own banks and the indulgent Legisla-
lures which egaze their violations Of law, promises,
and contracts. The issues of currency andis regu-
latiOn is attribute of sovereignty and everywhere
Is exercised by the sovereign power except in the
United States Here, also, it was intended to be
attribute of, and palced in the hands of Con
gress, and limited to the Of gold and stUer, and
the regll tiOR Of its UaiZe. For present Govern
ment was formed by hard-money men, who had seen
and felt the disastrous and demoralizing effect Of
paper money, and were anxious to save their posJeri
ty from such caamities as they had suffered They
did their part to save us. Shall we be false to
selves and to them? Respectfully,
THOMAS H. BENTON