The emigrant aid journal of Minnesota. [volume] (Nininger City, Minn. Terr. [i.e. Minn.]) 1856-1858, 1858-03-03

ASpeE, W uSC AK ysOsCASAtf
Nor1cz AS this weekly joarnal will occasionally be
sent to parties (uo -subscril ers) whose interest We think
might be sub.e,ved ~ advertising in II, We shall be
glad to corresp, nd with those who desire to avail them
selves Of our columns.
Town Orders.
The world is constantly finding some kind Of sui"
stitute for money. Gold and silver are duplicated
in all imaginable st,les. Nov it is the bank note, r.
deemsbls in specie on presentation a: the point Of dis.
sribstion now the State Bond payable at some future
period, and supported BY the faith Of the State in the
meantime: again in a lesser sphere, the City, or Town,
or County Orders, drawn cftentimes on an Empty Treas.
ury and negotiable on the public faith in future income
70 tina: Treasury. 1t is said the system Of paper money,
under which coguomen all these different issues may be
classed, originated in the necessities Of > certain Spanish
king, who, being besieged in a walled town, and run.
ming short Of gold and silver With which to purchase
provisions for his troops from the townspeople, prepared
susdry pieces Of paper, marked on each a certain de-.
nouiuation, and accompanying them With a public
promise Of future redemption, they were readily accept
ed BY the citizens in payment for whatever they bad
for sale. Theoretically and in the abstract, We do not
see why aay sort Of currency, whether the gro" plates
Of the IAcedamonians, the corrirs Of the Africans, OF
The coIored beads of the Americans, once universally
recognized as indicative Of value, should not become 20
all practical purposes, within the range of their circu-
lation, valuable. During the crisis the banks o. New
York City suspended specie payments, their securities
deposited with the State Comptroller could no. be made
available in money, their notes would not yield bullion,
ye. they circulated readily at per,-nay moro, were in
denand-not that they could be made the means fa the
obtaining Of specie-fur they could not, but because
they were the recognized representatives Of undoubted
value. The same thing occurred with the banks of ILL.,
aois and Wisconsin, the people seeing in their notes,
not the mere paper and priutisg of which they were
made, but the reference they contained to y mass of col
lateral securities deposited with the State officer, did not
seek to turn those securities into gold and silver, but
passed the notes from hand to hand as really az they
would specie.
These reflections are called up by the anticipated issue
Of Town Orders in this place. They will be put forth
temporarily and be used in those improvements Of the
town which it is considered wise to make as early in the
spring as possible. 1t is expected that by the lst Of
june next, the whole Of the taxation fund Of the town,
will, under a rigid system of collection, be in the Town
Treasury. Hence the Town Orders will be in circula.
sIOu StWcc tLlS TUE anu the uTeC OF June, q PERIOD OF
three months. Let US LOOK upon them in one or two
lights First, as to their security. Of this there eau
be no question, the whole of the property Of Niuiuger
City and its Additions, With all the Improvements made
sLsreon, amounting in all to nearly a million dollars
will be holden for them. The yearly issue of Orders
probably will not exceed FIVE thousand dollars-of this
1t is highly probable not more than half will be in cir.
culation at any one time hence the holder Of a Town
Order FOR One Dollar will have for it Five Hundred
Dollars worth Of undoubted real estate security, consist
ing Of lots, residences, stores, mills, &c. It, then, as
Ne have shown, the bank notes Of Illinois, Wisconsin,
Or New York, were deem d secure, where the amour: of
collateral was no more than the. amount Of issue, how
much more safe must our Town Orders be thought
where the security is Eve hundred times that Of the
issue.
Let US look next a: the question Of negotiability. The
arst point, security, having been dete, mined, would,
one might suppose, determine the question Of negotia.
bility. Not so, however. We are not a sell. dependent
sommunity-we depend on an external world for our
supplies Of groceries, dry goods, hardware, provisions,
&c, and we must offer to that external world a currency
they can understand. Outside Of Nininger our Town
Orders would be comparatively worthless a. We produce
nothing but labor, We must resort to the stores for all
those supplies which constitute the ascessaries or the
iuxuries Of life, and the stores must, in return, draw
those supplies from abroad, and must pay for them in
some currency universally recognized. It is not too
much to say that four 6fths of all the money set aaoat
in Nininger finds it's way in a few days into the stores.
To preserve, therefore, the par negotiability Of our Ord.
ers, We must preserve their credit with the stores. and
to do this, We must afford the storekeepers some n,eans
OF farming them into cash within a reasonable time.
How is this to BE- effected ? We understand that it il
the intention Of the Town Council to put up for imme.
date sale all such properties for which the taxes are not
paid by the lst Of juno next. No delay will be given
after that time. This course will either procure the tax
before the LIST Of June. from the owners Of the property.
or soon after that period from the sale of the property.
Under a rigid enforcement Of such an ordinance the
money must b. forthcoming. Here then are the means
by which the Town Orders are to be made convertible
into gold and silver or bank notes. Suppose all the
property holders defer the payment Of their taxes to the
last moment-to the LIST of June-even in that case the
orders will have less than an average Of two months to
run and what storekeeper is there that would not sell
to a safe customer on so short a credit when he is sure
OF obtaining his money at the end Of the time, and is,
IN the meantime, getting one per cent per martA on tie
dot! b2. this is an extreme case. There will 10 doubt
Be some who will defer The payment Of their taxes to
the last moment, but again there will be others who will
pay up as soon az their notices are served on them, and
still others Who will pay from time to time, between the
date Of notiee aad the LIST OF June. Hence money will
constantly be coming into the treasury, and AZ constantly
the Town Orders will be liouidated- e,r .ho. Ill -.