The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1864-03-02
The Revolution I'm Finances
ITS success ana Meaning.
fCcrresnondencc Now York Timcsl

had been told that he must raise fifteen
htHircR millions in two years for the pub
lie service. What man bred, as he was, in
the old ideas of finance, would not have
been startled out Of his prophecies by such
an astounding proposition Yet he has
done it, and can raise fifteen hundred mil
lions more, Just rs easily. Not only that,
but the country has throe-fold tho amount
Of paper currency it ever had before, and
all kinds OF business is transacted much
easier than it was ever before, and at much
less cost Now these are startling facts in
finance but they are iacts--aud they dc-
maudcd an explanation, which the old thoo.
rics of finance will not give. hear il said,
Gos. every body has got plenty of money,
and things look prosperous; but, 1t is all
fictitious; there will bc great crash Ivy. !
aud-by.' Now, tho basis of this financial |
condition is not fictitious, and whether there
is u crash, or not, ON the resumption OF gold
payments, will depend altogether upon how
it is managed. II these persons would uso
their observation aud reason they would
SEQ that there is no analogy whatever be-
tween tho increase ot paper money now,
and that initiation of bank paper and com
morCial debts which caused tho commercial
revolution of lSl9-20, of 1886 81, and of
! 1878. They were all caused by an inn
J lhNloN lllNlNdNt VI NVlllllClNihl NNilo hliA VI
irresponsible bank paper The precise cou.
trary is the case now. |. Tho increase OF
paper Is >t..nmont paper wn,t" no poo
! rle trust, inS;SS,. oi ;uulln paper, winch they
do not trust. The New York Economist a
few days since, gave an illustration which is
true aud just to tho point merchant,
buying wool in Northern Ohio, oilerof New
| York bank-notes and tho farmer refused,
4 ,l,,al
another and another he tried, with the same
result, and he was compelled to go to Cleve-
land and pay oue-haif per cent. premium for
grccnbacks before he could get his wool.
Such is the popular faith in Government
money. >. Again, this money il of uniform
value throughout tho country, and, there
fore, saves the exchange. Bcnton's great
object in trying to introduce gold was to do
this very thing, But ho was 30 ignorant OF
the whole subject that ho never thought that
chips were as good AS gold, if you can pay
your debts with them. | have iomcrly Civ
en you the case of Dr. Booth, travelling from
Tripoh 70 Timhuctoo, rs y perfect ilustra-
ton of this subject. At n certain point ho
was obliged to exchange hard silver dollars
for strings of shells but those shells paid
for what ho wanted, though not quite so
convenient. In this case, wo have gained
III CollN CllOuCO lbI wv HtNcl lltV ~ Ihi
roncy near al convenient rs Government
notes.
3. These Government notes arc u icgdttcn-
der, and consequently do pay your debts,
precisely as il they were gold. Here, then
VIC have three qualities which no bank
note ever issued had, viz: universal
! faith, uniformity Of value, and legal ten
der. We see, then, that what is called the
, imitation of papcv money has no analogy
whatever to those mutations of bank paper
or commercial credits which caused com
mcrCial commissions III former periods.
Again, there is another feature of the case
totally different from anything we have
heretofore seen. 1t is the constant dimiMU.
ton Of debts. In all the commercial convul-
siOns of this country, the rapid increase OF
commercial and private debts has been the
main difficulty. ! assert now, without any
fear of contradiction from intelligent bank
ers that since tho war began, private com
mcrcial debts have greatly diminished. For
merly immense disasters came from the in.
crease of debts in the South and West. The
war cut off the entiro debt of Tie South
The madmen there thought that would be
n great blow at the North. Undoubtedly
it injured many merchants and Strengthened
their means, but am willing to appeal to
them whether their business is not on much
better foundation? In the Valley of the
Ohio, affirm that the whole mass of debt
is diminished 6yfuH one-Mird. There new.
or was time when the people were SO much
out of debt and remember that this is i'll
the midst of what is called an inflated cur,
= roncy. Now, what is the cause of this in
creased confidence in tho national currency
Why is it that in all the gold spcculations
land they are almost wholly specuations) no.
body wants confidence i'll national currency
Nobody thinks it too large. Business does
not show it to he too large. The thing is
very simple. The solo value of any repre-.
scHtatire article, in cash, is rhH lies behind
il. When the Ohio Lifo and Trust Com
nany failed, in Cincinnati, men who had de-
posits there, rushed in to get their money
and there was no money there of any sort
But the cashier said =" Here is Il mortgage
on land" and Mr.. Smith took that, aud
, counted it no loss. Why? Because lie
knew that a mortgage on a fat farm, al
half its value was Just as good as money
Behind the Government currency-behind
; the Bonds-IieS he eaSt property Of tie na
ton. Is it the property which existed ten
years ago only? Not at all. 1t is double
that to-day. Is it the property of to-day
only? No, il is the property of the next
, hundred years, ,chen that property pW be
tenf0M aud his nation counting Hundreds
Cf millions. Why, sir, the industry of the
. people has accumulated double the cost OF
the war during the war. The people know
this. They know that the credit of this
! nation rests in their Orn right arm and
they trust the grace Of God to give them
i-Tpower for their use and profit. Such facts
as that have revoutioniZed financial as well
rs political ideas and this nation has learn,
ed more Of financial science aud just polti.
cal economy than all Europe knew. The
+ true statesmen of Europe begin to acknOwl-
edge this. We have made a great convert
, in the SOuth-Mr. Delow, of DeBOW'S Re
cie,r, one Of the most honost and abest OF
Southern champions. Oh ii was q great
day, sir when this nation rose from the
f moral sting of slavery, to recognize that
= there is nothing really great but Truth and
Justice. Sir, there are hopes for us hopes
: that in spite of our vanity and our immor-
alties, we shall yet realize all that patriots
and christians have longcd for!
, In regard to the volume of currency
which a community or county requires, no
rule exists, OF ever can exist, for it depends
! on the number of people, the amount OF
I commodities, the frequency of sales, the
@ amount of debt and the degree of enterprise
70 each of these elements being measurable 10y
: no known standard. But one thing is Ger,
! tain, that with sir hul,lTeR millions Of cur
rsHcY (which we really have in one form
and anOtheT,) we do not find any excess of
monoy compared With the demand. And il
you analyze it, why should We? The me
= tallic currency has gone out of use the