Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-02-06
a Credit Currency.

IN state shairs, propositions which bad been so
long accepted as truth that they bad come 70 be
regarded az axioms. are nox graveiy questioned
and disputed-so In matters of finance. there has
been general upheaving Of all which the wisdom
of the past had taught and experience had con
hrmed-and We are once more aiOat without rule /
or compass. and with no guide but The within OF T
the moment. IL is Of little use 20 mourn over
what We have lost, for our regrets will be of no
present await The press and all thinking men I
must address themselves TO the more hopefdl
task oi.erecting new landmarks aud re e Abish-
ing. on sure foundation. these drifting elements
Of financial prosperity HEEf f
Among the questions TO be regarded before the
people. are those relating to the connexion be-
tween the power of the gosernment and indis'd
ual credit. In the great struggles which men
have made to secure the protection of govern
mental authority against the violation OF their
rights by their fellows. they have ever found IL
difficult To secure sufficient power for this end
upon the State aud still keep IL from interfering
diastrousy with their material interests. In the
DRY. it's true that poor government Is better
than none; but in practice, IL has been found
safer TO be governed too little than TO be re
strained too much. the tendency of power IN pos
session being aggressive and cumulative. This Is
especially applicable to monetary Affairs. as this
nation is now about to learn by costly and, as
we believe, very bitter experience.
We point with just pride to the confidence
which the people have in the stability OF Their
government When history is written with an
impartial hand il will be fonnd that the financial
successes by which the sinews OF war have been
furnished, are not due to the master skill OF
great states man who touched the hidden springs
of action and moulded mighty nation to his
will but to the generous seli-sacrihce OF the
people, who would not allow the supplies to fail,
no matter how bungingly they were managed.
haSh hoo pial n
which was worthy of the name; and those in Eu-
rope who were looking merely at the teebleness
and ignorance of the pilots, while the nation
seemed drifting toward insolvency, were right In
their warnings and exclamations. We have not
been ruined hitherto, because our real strength
has been, not in rulers, but in the people; ana
that vitality has not only been thousand times
greater than any outside estimate, but tar be
yond our own conscious conception. What other
nation could have survived such shockF w no
has not seen a deep, rich soil yield crop after
crop in generous proluslon under system OF
bad husblndrv that would have exhausted an or
binary field in one years tlllageI SO has 1t been
with our country.
Norhave we vet reached the point of exhaus
ton The people will not even lose patience,
and refuse TO bear the burdens imposed. as long
as they deem them necessary TO the nations llie;
while their resources still flow toward the public
treasury in unremltting stream. lt Is not
this devotion which we are indicating, nor the
demands upon il which we are now questioning
We are not calling the Government 10 account
for anything which relates to the progress OF the
war, or even the criminal wastefulness by which
its expenses are unlawfully swelle1 We are
looking forward to the times of peace and exam
ming the basis of system which is now com
mended to adoption, one good Tor that
coming day.
We have spoken at this length of The confidence
which the people have in the stability Of their
government to show our full appreciation OF IT,
even when we ask the question ii it is wise 10
make this confidence the sole foundation ot a
national currency? No nation has ever continued
this experiment without disastrous failure; will
ours be exception the page OF history
We can do little more than present this question
today but it is one which thoughtful minds have
poniered deeply since the system was first
proposed We are not now speaking OF the TEN
porary use of this credit currency during the war
but of the plan which would force all the money
ell circulation of the country to tlke on this form
under government control We desire to cite OF
this theme an authority which will have some
weight with those who are impatient of discus
sion. and who are bent upon following their own
impulses, regardless of reason.
Charles Francis Adams, our present Minister
to England. wrote an essay on 1.-THE principles Of
credit" which was printed in the year 1910. in
the March number of Hunts Magazine He III
ssts that ''it Is the province of the sovereign
power to establish the medium of exchange upoa
a permanent and durable foundation" which
cannot be done. he argues, if il be dependent il
any way upon the public credit al state thi:
broadly" he saws. because there has been oil
late growing inclination among writers upon
subjects of this sort, 10 favor the idea that the
issue of paper currency, resting upon credit, Is
business properly belonging to the sovereign
He meets squarely the plea that a national debt
would furnish good foundation for such issue:
''for upon the stability OF that depends the sta
bility of The entire system OF currency, base
upon credit "A reliance which. | must repeat. |
cannot for my own part, regard as well found
ell" His graphic description OF the effect Of
such a policy is all, in addition, which we have
space 10 quote
Let the supplying of circulating medium
once fall into the hands OF government Com
misSioners. or be in any degree connected with
the fsncies OF political rulers, depend upor
the ebb and flow of the national revenue. and i
is believed that no security can be entertane,
against the daily preparation of abuse, thu
the whole credit system would not experience =
perpetualy varying, irregular, zigzig movement
at war with the calculations of the shrewdeS
merchant, aud subversive of his best founded
expectations
l. there any reason why this is not as sounC
To dav "a it was when Mr.. Adams prepared il fo
the Boston Mercantile Library Association
twenty five years ago? Does truth lose its vir-
tue bv the lapse of timer Must the nation, o
necessity plunge into error because passing events
have wrought the people To unwonted pitch %
excitement? Almost every page of the past i
thus full ofwarnings against the very course nov