Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1858-08-24
A cold and silver Currency.

A Gold ana SILVER currency |
The experience OF the past two years has demon
strsted what reason and reflection taught
rs. that paper currency is unsafe and productive
Of countless evils TO the country We have seen the
result Of using bank bills as substitute for godand
silver. Alternate initiation and depression in the
price of praperty have rendered commerce insecure
and the rewards Of labor uncertain A wild spirit0f
speculation has been engendered and while the man Of
solid capital is afraid to risk his means in any extern
sive commercial enterprise the adFenturer who
has nothing TO lose is enabled by the unlimited
credit he obtains from the banks, 20 buy up the pro
auctions of the country drive out honest comPeti-
ton and either realize large profit himself, or if
his speculation IS unfortunate leave the farmers snd
planters from whom he has purchased, to bear all |
the losses. safe, reliable and steady trade is i'm
possible, while the banks have the power to expand
or contract the circulating medium according to
their caprice or convenience. Nov, men engage IL
the business Of banking for the purpose Of Masking
money and they will exercise the power, with which
they are clothed for their own advantage andnot
for the benefit Of the people. If they realize any
profits these profits are drawn from the pockets Of
the producing classes. They win Ofcourse regulate
the commerce and finances of the country, SO that
they may wiring from the people as large portion
Of their earnings as possible. In order to accom-
plsh this they substitute for gold and silver their
own "prOmises to pay, and these they dispense
in Just such quantities and on just such terms
as they please They Withdraw the specie from
circulation, substitute their own notes therefor and
charge the people for the exchange. The commu-
nifty actually pay the bankers for giving them bad
currency in place Of good one The profits Of the
banks and the losses by bank failures measure the
amount Of which the people pay for the privilege
Of using credit paper instead Of actual money. That
gold and silver currency is the best no one pre-
tends TO doubt Then, why should we not adopt it?
We are told that it is not practicable, that if you
withdraw the bank paper from circulation there
will be only about one third Of its amount in specie
left to supply sT the necessities Of commerce. II
this argument has any force it proves the insecurity
Of the banks since the paper which they circulate Is
not based upon metal in their vaults. But the fact
is that we shall have gold and silver money just so
soon as we refuse to use any other and we shall
have just enough to supply the demands Of trade
There is about three hundred millions Of gold and
silver in the United States Distributing this amount
among the Sta ss Of the Union according to popula-
ticn Tennessee's proportion would be about twelve
command the best currency which the world sfOrds,
for the articles of which send &c foreign
markets are required to supply the actual wants and
necessities of mankind. We would send out our
cotton, our corn, our wheat and tobacco, and they
would always bring equivalent in gold and silver
Since we sell more than we buy the deficiency of
specie would soon be supplied. The gold which is
now boarded in the vaults OF the banks would be in
the hands of the people, and the large amount of
specie which now seeks foreign markets would be
retained at home. Twelve millions of dollars would
be amply sufficient for all thenecessites of the com
munity The spurious currency which the banks
of this State furnish present. does not reach that
amount.
But is objected that if we had no banks at home,
the paper of other States would fOW in and supply
the vacuum created by the withdrawal Of bank cir
culation This might easily be avoided by passing
stringent laws against using the notes of adjoining
States. A law enacting that the payment of such
notes should not be held to be legal discharge Of
debts would effeetually prevent the evil anticipated
If it was known that the payment of debts in the
notes of other States would not operate as a Legal
acquittance and that the creditor could still sue for
and recover the amount in specie, one would Of
fer these bills in discharge of liabilities.
Having answered these objections which are so
frequently urged against an exclusively gold and
silver currency let consider some Of the advan-
tages which the country would derive from its adOp
ton. The fluctuations in trade which grow out OF
the expansions and contractons Of bank circulation,
would be avoided. Commerce would flow in
smooth even channel. and the productions Of labor
would command a renumerative and uniform price.
Speculation, with its train of evils, its temptations
to vice and its commercial disasters, would be
fined within safe and narrow limits. A few men
would no longer have the power Of controlling the
finances Of the country and regulating the prices Of
our property. These important matters would then
be determined by the legitimate laws of trade, and
by the amount Of parti .ular articles supplied to
meet the demands Of commerce. The farmer could
then estimate with some degree of certainty when
he planted his crop, what it would yield him, and
when he received the money for it, he would know
its value, and would not be continually disturbed
with a, prehensions of a commercial crash and
bank failures. The false and PernioOus system of
credit, which now prevails, would be abandoned,
the immense debt, which overrides the COM
munity like night>mare, and obstructs by high
rate of interest and continual defalcsons and re-
vulsiOns the productive labor of the country, would
be gradually e1tingushed. These are some Of the
most obvious advantages of a gold and silver
rency. We can enjoy these advantages if we desire
to do So by doing away with the system Of banking
which, among the iucslculable evils it has inflicted
upon the country, has produced greater evil than
in deprving US of this sound, safe and reliable cir
culating medium.
See First and Fourth Pages.