Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1863-12-23
Tho GxssrnsyE.

Money and Banking in The United States, by VIII
liam u. Geuge, Esq, an interesting account Of the
smission ereulasion decline aid hnal loss Of con-
tinenlal money. It will be- seen that the whole
amount Of this currency issued was$s59, ,547, ,o27
%, ecruencing in 1775, sad IN Nay, 1881, the
confidential bills ceased to araalate - money
The bills were Afterwards bought on spesuation at
sssieas pricss, from 100 10 IMP u 900 for Ii
It is worthy Of remark depreciation Of this
currency did not stop ,ts circulation, hut It passed
readily from hand to hand Mhsn even any idea of
its being ultimately redeemed 1t nominal valne had
vanished This is in accordance with well set.
tied principle in currency tAea ths most worthless
monsy eiroalatss .ese eseaaHsiy, that which is
really good, or better, being boarded. As long As
comparatively worthless money will purchase. any /
thing it will continue to circulate -. !
writer ia late number Of the Progress, who
is evidently well-ipformed on the subject states
that in Nsrth Carolina in 1880. Gov. Nash's salary
was 49, coo pounds, and was expended by his wife
in the purchase Of . calico gown. Judge 1rsdell
mentions in some of his letters written about that
period, that his tavern bills when attending his
Courts were generally from three to four hundred
pounds per week, and he esteemed himself fortu-
nate when he realized at any one Court as much as
seven dollars in hard money North Carolina bills
Of credit were redeemed et the close Of the resolu
ton at 800 to !.
Mr. Gouge states that the ease with which ways
and means were provided in the early part Of
the war, by the issues Of paper led to much exerav
agance in the commissary department. and prevent.
ed the establishment of a sound system Of finance
The same error has marked the financial policy OF
the Confederate States 1t is so easy to emit paper
money, aud the period for redeeming is 80 remote
and uncertain, that the temptation to food the
country with it. in lieu of real money is not often
surmounted by those who begin and conduct revo-
lutions Frederick the Great Of Prussia, who ru!ec
not labre than five millions of people, contended tor
seven years with countries whose united population
amounted to one hundred millions; he conducted the
contest which made him famous in history, and ele
waited his country to prominent place among the
nations of Europe, mainly with specie; and he
emerged from it without any debt. 1.-The burdens
Of the war;" says his historian, "had been terrible
almost insnpportable; but no arrear was left to EN-
barras the finances in time Of peace" Confederate
leaders might have learned wisdom from such an
example. Pay as you 60 is the philosophers stone
The most rigid economy in every thing wasenforosd
hv rreaa.;ek and the heaviest punishment was
promptly inflicted on those under him who wasted
or misapplied the public stores, or endeavored to
realize profits for themselves from what passed
| through their hands.
Mr.. Secretary Memminger, with the approval OF
Mr.. Davis, proposes plan by which the Confeder-
| ate debt is to be put in bonds amounting to one
thousand millions of dollars, the interest to be COL
lected in specie by taxing the people our rulers
had been wise they would have purchased in the
outset enough cotton to form basis :or the curren
cy. They could have placed it as SO much gold OF
sterling ia Europe, and could have drawn upon il
as it WAS needed 1t would have been better, IN
deed, to have relied specie obtained IN this way
topetber with what specie there was already in the
country than to have hazarded the revolution on
paper currency alone. But the evil Of vast issues
of paper money is upon us, and we must put "
with it to the best advantage. There may be rem
edy for this evil, but if there is it must be new
one. for history reveals no expedient, no plan b.
which currency so redundant csn be made equa
to Specie. Acts Of compusion, forced loans, tende
acts. limitation of prices, were all resorted TO II
vain by our revolutionary ancestors. They but iu
j. creased the evil. ...
The writer in the Progress, to whose views "
alluded in the beginning Of this article, gives the fo
,ow;np to show the manner in which the deprecis
ton in the currency affects different classes Of tn
community:
, "A. volunteered for the war, LIST October, 1861
His pay was $ll per month in Confederate notes
The depreciation since has been ABOUT =. Pc, sn' ee
ner month. He, therefore, paid tax OF a cent
: on the LIST Nov 1851, ss cents lst Dec; 81 " II
Ian. 1862: 81 70 1st February 81 20 lst March
J. 40 Ga LIST Aprn; IS 'Os LIST May; So 81 1st June
4 96 1st july; 81 40 1st Aug 81 "a lst Sept.
IS % 1st Oct IS 70 lat Nov; s. 16 LIST Dec
IS so 1st Jan. 1868; 81 o4 lst Feb; q ~ !, Il
msrin ~, dn1e: 20 "a 1st July; ts IS lsiAug siO
1st Sent: $40 Sc LIST October His monthly pa
for two Years (24 months) At $11 per month $96
His monthly tax for "a months, equal to hall his pa
l $l32. ..
:. B. blockade runner, commencing operations
% Charleston at the same time is understood to ha'
realized SEQ, ,OOO, ,OOO-$2 900 per month dur'r
# the same period If he bad paid taxes in the sau
proportion with the soldier he would have retame
IS of his profit Just thirty millions He invested ht
le millions however, in real estate and other prodd
tive property, and is supposed to have at the pre-
e. ent. ten millions worth at the time it accrued.
.v one million in specie What disposition shall .
made of these ten millions and Of nine tenths Of
O, Treasury notes, now in circulation or which "
q be emitted by the 1st Of January nexts Shall !
re be permitted to fund them and receive governme
bonds payable in specie, with six per cent. intere
annually, and the principal thirty years hence ?
al The interest to be paid by A. in common With t
N. grest body of tax payers fund holders always e
ly cepted.
Of AS case is that of half million Of soldiers Uc
or blood has been shed, or lives mperilled on the b
q tie field, or in the more dreaded and htal hospas
t is the case Of every widow, and every orph'
-, and ali Other persons in the Coufederacy wht
I" means Of living are moderate rnonied incomes
lb is the case Of the Governor, whose salary OF
,ar is not equal to stipend of $500, three years ego
Bile B. ON the other hand is the representative o
y. much susller, and much more opulsnt class, q
~ who have made money by the war: d 'cert
''s that the redundancy is the great cause OF the
ia, precation Of the currency. II t'be true Is Pa'
bly insisted by the sdvocates Of the funding systt
that if you fund nine-tenths Of the notes t
have been issued, and thus reduces the volume
sn -. the currency to that extent, that the rensan
tenth will be eqasl to specie it Is equally corr
hum