The Portland daily press., 1863-02-20
The Portland Daily Press has the largest
regular circulation Of any daily paper in
the city.
The Currency Bill.

a
measure marks the beginning Of NEW era in
the financial history Of our country; and truly
the country has waited long enough for it.
The credit Of suggesting the far reaching pro-
visions Of this act is due to Secretary Chase,
and 1t Is fortunate for the American people
that he has found in these critical times earn
est and able coadjutors in the American Con-
gress. Ifnot now, hereafter, when the passions
Of the hour shall have cooled, the statesman OF
the present administration will not be defraud-
ed of their well earned praise. This and other
measures which might be named, look beyond
immediate exigencies to future advantages,
broad based and firm as the pyramids. They
are not mere expedients.
There Is no reason in the nature Of things for
restricting commerce to the use OF gold and sill
yer as q medium OF exchange On the contra
~ various means Of representing values have
been adopted The money of pastoral nations
In the earliest terms ran on four legs. Thus
Homer estimates the worth Of valuable estate
in oxen, and pecunia is derived from pecus,
sheep. In the same way, 1t is said, in the IL
linois Egypt, during the late scarcity ofchange,
bull pups passed current for dime, a quarter,
or half dollar, according to their size and fe-
rocity. We do not porpose to base any argu-
meut on this last report. Shells, iron and
brass have answered the purpose of money. 1t
Is purely human invention, in civilized socie-
~ confirmed by legislation, to avoid the neces-
sity Of exchanges in kind, and becomes by its
Office standard to which all real values are
referred for measurement
But silver and gold have real value, by no
means uniform, but on the whole less exposed
to fuctuation than most other objects of de-
sire. This is one reason for their adoption as
the basis Of the currency of modern nations.
Their bulk, weight and defect in quantity rem
der 1t impossible that they should alone sup
ply the necessities of modern commerce. A
superstructure of paper currency upon basis
of gold, gold withdrawn by legislation from
the market and fixed as a standard of values,
has become indispensable In modern times.
Gold cannot rise when every paper dollar must
be redeemed in coin on demand When spe-
Gle payment is suspended, gold ceases to be
money for the nation which no longer uses it
- such; 1t goes back to the Market an article
Of trade Of no more significance than any 9TH
er. The only money in this case is paper. No
nation can now make war on a large scale
without such suspension-that Is, without run
ming In debt-and issuing promises to pay
and even in peace a certain amount of paper
money is required for the transaction of bust
ness. There is no choice In the matter: it
must be had.
How TO deal with this necessity, is the
problem to be solved by modern statesmen.
This paper currency must be kept strictly in
hand, must not be allowed to exceed the de-
mands Of trade. There must be just enough,
and no more, to hcilitete exchanges. The
annoyance and actual loss in various ways
arising from a scanty medium for effecting
minor exchanges, for buying articles worth
less than dollar, is matter Of recent expert
ence. Still more serious is the evil arising
from q supefiuous currency. How then shall it
be watched and regulated?
Senator Shermans Currency Bill proposes
to substitute for the bills Of all the banks in the
United States, one national currency, issuing
from separate bureau in the Treasury de-
partment II it is desirable, to regulate the
issues Of paper money, can it be doubted, that
q single bureau at Washington will more read
lily admit a just and prudent supervision than
1895 banks scattered from Maine to Texas?
That Is the estimated number of banks hither-
to entrusted with the responsibility of pro-
viding money for this people, and each issu-
ing its own separately engraved notes. We
ha We seen the result of this singular policy In
an infinitely varied pictorial currency, which
not man of us dared touch without the DE
scriptive List" and the Counterfeit Detectorr
The former work enumerated last month e54
"retired banks" as the fraudulent and WORTH
less are delicately styled. Retired banksrl
Out OF 1856 banks In Massachusetts,, only Is ac-
cording to one "Detector," and only IL accord
ing to another, have no notes counterieited
This bank note literature, to us an essential
safeguard, is unknown to the rest of the
world Is any comment necessary?
The power of issuing notes bearing the char
acter OF money should never have been added
TO the regular functions of banking. There
Is legitimate and useful place for bankers to
nll. They are, for example, to receive depos-
its, to discount bills, and exchange money
But join to these dealings in money, the au-
thority to make it, and what can be expected
but the violent contractions and expansions.
which have more than once brought wide
spread financial disorder and ruin into the
midst Of prosperity itself? The separation of
banking from the issue Of current notes is not
an experiment. The department of issue in
the Bank Of England is entirely distinct from
the department of banking. Every note
must come from the issuing department, and
there the amount of circulation is limited by
law to pound for pound of Government secu-
rites or deposits of bullion. Every dollar is-s
sued by the Comptroller of the Currency, un-
der Senator Sherman's bill, is to be secured
by United States bonds. If banking associa-
tons receiving and using these notes fail to
redeem them they will be redeemed by the
Comptroller. Every bill will be entitled to
the double credit of the association over
whose counter it passes, and of the United
States.
From whatever point this great reform is
contemplated, 1t is full of excellent promise
for the future.
WashingtOn's Birthday.