The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-10-22

OF the Legislature, Whlcn repeaFed tPe penai-
ties, and legalized suspel sion till the first of
April next. Now, bank note is contract on
the face Of it. The Penn ylvania Bank prom
ises to pay FIVE, ten, or tfty dollars, son de-
naand." 1t is fair cont, set between the cor
poration and the notch ,lder. The Federal
Constitution says no Stat, shall pass any law
impairing the obligatiof of CONTRACTS: the
State of Pennsylvania do, pass law impair
ing for six months the ontract between the
Bank and the note.holder |
The Constitution of Nav Yo5k provides as
follows:
The Legislature shaJ have no power to
pass any law sanctioning any manner, directly
or indirectly, the suspense in of specie payments
by any person, associatiotf or corporation, issu-
ing notes of any descripi a."
SanctiOning, in any .anner, directly or IN
directly" The People tho frsmed and rati-
fed that Constitution cou not lave pronounc-
ed their will more empI Aticalla, against any
legislative device for sane joining the suspension
of Banks. The LegislatS e mes, passed law
defining the penalties of juspenyion, and COM
polling the suspended barks to SO into liquida-
ton twenty days after 81 Ypensinn. Now, will
the plain, honest reader lieve that, in the face
of all this, it is boldly ins ted that there should
be an extra session of tl,s Legislature, so that
it may repeal this law, a ID provide for the re-
sumption of specie payn snts at some distant
day2 The New York &uricr and Enquirer
says it has power to do this, although it has no
power to pass law legaizing the suspension.
The Constitution says n,thing about "legali-
ling" Its language is" No power to pass any
law, sanctiOniHg IN any 1lGnner, directly or
indirectly" suspension. ndare we to be told by
the Courier and Enquire that o law, repeating
the existing law against ,spensSon, aud "every
other law which gives tt the courts power to
inteifere with the banks and also providing
for the resumption of 81 ,cie payment at some
future period" would not,be "ssnctioring" the
suspension of specie payf ents Let is not So
phisticate and demoralize ';ur own minGs. There
is no way in which the Legislature of New
York can aid the banks or shield them from
the legal consequences ofsuspeDsion, except by
an open violation of tn. Constitution of the
State. Let US at least bssgnanly. If we intend
an unconstitutional resuk, let rs say so, and
take the responsibility.
We have said enough o show that this stu
pendous Illusion of Papes Money is too strong
to be fettered: Laws and Constitutions, Legis-
latures and Courts, all yield to its power.
viii not the People be gin to investigate-to
inquire whether Paper N oney be indeed a ne
cessity? The Bank of Et gland issues no notes
under FIVE pounds, or tive, ty-fve dollars. In or
binary dealings, you meet nothing but gold and
silver. What is the use of their big notes
The masses do not want hem. When man
travels in this country, he Iakes gold-it is more
convenient than anythil e else. If he need
more than one hundred ,llars, he can carry
certificate of deposit or leck, or draw draft
In Brge transactions, the Ledger is the agent.
When man in New Yc * buys a section Of
land in Wisconsin, he d, es NOT pay for it in
bank notes, but by a ORA !. In smaller opera
tions, shopping, marketing &C., where is the ne
cessity of paper? Even inscriptions to news
papers can easily be p i'd by remittances of
gold. We have many SUI scribers in California
and Oregon, who nearly .lways remit in gold,
enclosing in their letter., two, three, four, ten,
or even twenty dollars. a.Let the People turn
the whole matter of nve,aience over and over,
aud they will find that 9Aper Money is not
necessity.
1t is quite true that, Nth O gold and silver
currency, prices might b. lowered Bat why ?
Because the circulating 2ediun. would be the
of a real gqalue. Paper Money
raises prices by deprecia.;ng the currency. The
price of land goes up in this case because the
standard of value goes down. The rise is
fiction, profitable in the u ain only to SPECTATORS
Where the currency is DEPRECATED, all prices
go upland, stocks, agr cultural products, last
of ALL wages. What dc, the PASSES gain, if,
With two dollars of paper money day, they can
buy only so much real Glue, "a with nothing
but metallic currency hey coald buy for one
dollar. The great Advantage Of gold and sill
yer currency would be, chat men would have
less nominal, but more real and determinate
wealth that prices wousd be less variable be-
mg dependent upon material, not artificial laws !;
that the currency would not be liable to ruinous
fluctuations that there gould be less room for
speculation, extravagan ,e, commercial gam
bings, and usurous inte .est, while there would
always be solid basis az credit, commensurate
with the real wants of thu community; and that
there would be fewer ineq aaities in the condition
of Society, fewer overgroysn and iegitimate for.
tunes. Read the following paragraph from the
New York EUening Pos, headed " The Vicissi-
tudes Of Commerce." The appropriate heading
would be, "The Vicissit9 ]es of'tock Gambling,
Under the System of Paoer Mcaey:"
The VicisSitudes az Con naerce.-A few
months since, the partner ola CT numerical house
IL this city was taken t. luI attic asylum, ut
terly deranged, as was sid, by his unparalleled
prosperity In business. DURING the year pre.
vious, his firm had Gle, red Sl,3OO, 600. He
died in the asylum, an J his own estate was
valued at $2,500,00 al invested in the con.
Germ of which he was a partne>. The firm If.
self failed the other day, and il; now said to be
utterly insolvent. One item Cf the assets of
the deceased's estate wse a thousand shares of
the Illinois Central RAILROAD stock. which was
selling at the time of Is decease at $40 a
share, and which was worth, after paving mn
the instalments, S800,0Qt. The same prope-tv
sold yesterday at public sale at $50. 900. All
this occurred within eighteen months-the
prosperity, the insaoity,.he decease, and the
insolvency."-NetO York Ecening Post.
Worth when he died, 1880, OOO-,sold yester.
Gay, for $4,000! A ioir illustration of the
manner in which the gr ed of gain is stimula.
ted, and fortunes (?) a made ut;der Paper
Money system!
The New York Tribs ne, in a late editorial.
stated that not more t. IN three n hundred
of the merchants and tre ,lers Of Boston become