Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-10-29
Money Matters Norlh and south,

From the Richmond Examiner
TIE q1oiations for gold and sterling funds at
the S S.oSk Exchange of William street, proclaim
That The bottom is failing cut of Northern finance.
HeTc-f3rwar3 there are TO be two cuTreHcies at
the North, that Of specie, or real money, and
that of rags, or government money. A. the
Souih, we are shut oUs from commerce With the
rest of the world, ami have but one currency
that of government paper. An undue issue Of
this currency may dspTecists igs valss, aud raise
the prices Of property bus still It il the currency
of the country, for there is none other. We are
buying nothing from abroad and we aro not
under ihe necessity of conforming our currency
to thGt of foreign countries In our isolated
condition we might adopt the iron coins Of Ly-
curgus, or the Wsmpum-belts Of she Indians, OF
tobacco Ike cur first settlers OF cotton OF Barrels
of turpentiHe, OF anything else most convenient
20 the general masses, for currency and ths
msio requirements of business would be sstis-
Fl ID. We have adopted, however, instead of
.hese rude materials, the Treasury Notes Of the
government as the currency most convenient to
The people and most suitable to tho necessities
of the government Being isolated from the
commercial world, this currency answers all our
purposes very we'll; and but for the amounts Of
it rendered necessary to be put in circulation By
the exigeuces of the war, It would be iISt the
same to the people as gold and silver, substances
I
iron, or lead, or stone coal.
Bat the case is wholly different with the
North. They cannot adopt a currency suitable
s1cluaivaly to their own circumstances. En-
gagged largely in foreign trade their currency
must have a cosmopolitan value TO be a CuTTeu-
cY suitable to the requirements of trade. II
they adopt wampUm belts, or Connecticut
clocks, or wooden nUtmeg5, OF Federal green
| backs ss their national currency, articles
which have no financial value 0Htsie Of their
own boundaries, their currency must scoH run
down to a frgbttul depreciation, and cease to
snsweT the purpose Of money. The North, un-
ike the South, is under the necessity OF having
= currency of general and intrinsic value.
When their pspsr issues cease to commsn /
prices aPprOIimGtiug the par Of spscie, they be-
come di5cTedited as = currency, aud the govern
ment either fails TO make purchases a. al, or
makes them st prices Tuinous 20 its credit.
Inc fall of Federal Treasury notes TO sixty
cents on the dollar compared with gold end
sterling funds, cannot fail to produce q serious
para ysis in the military operations Of the gov
zr8mont. All its contrscts must be mAda with
express stipuiatiOBs for the liberty Of paying in
! deprecated paper; and, according as Treasury
notes fall In value must the cost OF WAr Increase
| These notes are now worth but sixty cents in
rhe dollar with a rspid downwsrd tendency I;
aud the maxim is no less true in financs than in
morals faciiiS deSceHsuS arerRi Wall street
smphadcgliy declares that il distrusts the Fed
| ersl credit; and nothing has value among tho
Yankees that Wall street rejects. II the con
| tractors Of government find themselves unable
to negotiate their Federal bonds or nsy out their
Federal notes in Wall street, they will soon throw
up their contracts, and turn their attention 10
other emplCymsnts. Hitherto the war has been
rendered popular at the North by the lavish
policy of the government in dispensing pr, "a
bic contracts among al classes. Now, these
contracts must cease to be sought with tTidity,
bsCEu3e Of the BoTthlessness of Jhs money psjd
out by the governments. Tbs fall Of Federal
funds nsugurstes a new epoch in the history Of
the war. The thoughts of the Northern people
have heretofore been concentrated upon the
profits of government contracts. Hereafter tho
foremost idea in every mind will be, how is he
stupendoUs debI that has been run up 10 be paid
or sustained
New England may prosper by the deprecated
currency, for every dollar sdded to the value Of
foreign exchange, counts as q dollar Of tddi-
tionaI taJif upon foreign imports. Her profits
upon manufactures increase in precisely the
ratio in which the Federal credit depTeciates
just in proportion TO the increase Of burdens
imposed upon the Uuited States at large, Just in
that proportion are the profits on hsr maui Re-
.ures augmented. New England ri ices a.
| q cry adverse report from the stock market IN
| New York the financial cslami;ies Of the Uaiou
bring only gain to her. The war has enriched
! her enormously; it has probably added two fold
to her general wealth; but her gain has seen 81.
the expense OF the Western and Middle States
How long these latter States will stand war
destructive to the credit of the Union ruin
Gus to their own interests and disastrous 10 ihe
community, as we'll for the present as for she
future, remains TO be seen. The complexion Of
the election returns reaching US from those
States affords some grounds for the conclusion,
thut these Stsses are growing tired OF q war
eoInmeneel by New England tor her own eHol-
uinent, and prosecuted for gain at the general
exnar.n