The Placer herald., 1864-02-06
Expansion Of the Currency---A Collapse
Inevitable.

There is ans abundance Of evidence that
the finance Of both the Federal Government
and those Of the Confederate States are in
anything but a fourishing condition. Mr..
Chase has, however, made up his bulge,
with far more skill than has been displayed
by Memminger. Our Secretary has svailed
himself Of every possible mode in conceaing
from the public the rottenness of the foundn-
tion upon which financial policy rests, and
in bolstering up the public confidence, while
on the contrary Memmingsr has not sought
concealment or evasion, but boldly presents
the facts Of the case. The exgencies Of war
called for extraordinary sums Of money. In
these days wars are prosecuted on such .
gigantic scale that enormous sums are rel
quired in order to keep armies in the field.
Both Secretaries seem to have adopted very
much the same policy. The object seems
to have been to avoid taxation as far as
possible; and to do this, they went about
making money out Of paper, and putting it
afoat as a currency. In the one case it took
the form Of Legal Tender notes, or green
backs; in the other, of Treasury notes.
Both Secretaries have been busy making
this kind OF money until the currency is ex-
panded to from three to five times its former
amount, resulting to an imitation Of prices,
want and discomfort among the laboring
classes, causing strikes for higher wages, and
a general dstrust and anxiety in reference
to all business transactions. Secretary
Memminger very candidly states the case,
and admits that their false steps must be
retraced; the 100000, 900 in Treasury notes
he says must be recalled, and $2OO,OOO 900
of notes issued in place Of it, thus cutting
down the currency to about its original
amount, with the additional security that
the amount will not be increased. Having
thus restored matters to cash basis, he pro-
poses what wiser policy would have dictated
in the first place, the issue Of bonds running
for period Of years, at liberal interest, and
tax on the property of the country, payable
in coin, sufficient to meet that interest The
fnanciers of the South see breakers ahead,
adm; they have been sailing in the wrong
direction financially, and are therefore pre-
pairing to ''about ship" come back to
specie basis. and in the place Of shirking
taxation by thowing off the debt on to pos
terity, they propose to submit to the del
mands Of the tax gatherer.
We at the North, however, still 60 on
diluting the currency. Every shift is resort
ed to in order to avoid present taxation.
Property advances, labor advances. Finan.
cially the country is walking on stills, and
flimsey paper stills at that. California has,
however, repuda.ed the paper bauble telling
the Federal Government that the words
printed on the back Of every greenback are
false words; and thus We are here compare.
lively strangers to the evils attending the
paper imitation east of the mountains. The
signs of the times indicate .ha. the ball will
move on until greenbacks become about as
worthless as Confederate notes. Then Mr..
Chase's boasted financial system will collapse
like perforated bladder, and the country
will have to come back to specie basis and
an amount of currency adequate to the
wants Of tho country. Money will have to
be raised through loans, secured by bonds,
and the people will have to submit to heavy
taxation in the place Of shutting il off on to
posterity, as designed in the first place.
Loans will have to be obtained at home
Neither the North or South can command
much money abroad, though at present,
strange as it may appear, Confederate bonds
are worth more in Europe than our own.
Marysvil|e Express.
CRIrIc1sM-There is a we'll known fable
told Of an ancient painter, who opened a
picture to public criticism, requesting that
every person who observed fault would
put mark upon it, When the artist came
in an evening, to take his painting home,
he found il one mass of marks of dsappro