The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-12-08

fceilIiR sincere statement OF your
propositions and the deductions that you draw from
them, 1t is due you that should state few facts
and reasons for dissenting from your ingeniously
to shake your belief and know that shall remain
hrm In my antagonism to that belief. Under
these circumstances we must agree TO disagree and
drop the subject You say that in u letter written
by me speak OF irredeemabe paper, and you so on
and say
deemabes Surrey you mean the eresnbaeks have
@ not
evidences debt soldiers and others for services
aua IN the same COIN we bad issued gold pieces in
the end Ike same Labor for labor the real rassaon
and q whasosyer Kind only the agen. ba gives
to him. When you golden dollar for paper dollar
your money redeemed Howi Why, the Of ne
Now, have this to say In reply:-'Irredeemable
paper' has, among political economists and among
ing Webster defines the word irredeemalAe-.'Not
subject to be paid at the nominal value rs note or
m U whes q paPs1
by saying "NOt 10 be paid according to the nominal
value; as an irredeemable paper currency" You
per currency can be exchanged at some rate for
commodities, 1t Is therefore redeemed can ina
does not follow that because you receive some
thing in exchange for paper money that therefore It
Is redcemable This would not be true strictly, even
If paper money had the same purchasing power as
the metallic money. unless the paper dollars could
purchase gold dollars; much less IL In the
Of the greenbacks OF which four dollars will not
ut this time purchase three gold dollars
You will no doubt recollect that at a time during
the rebellion one hundred dollars oil these green
backs could be bought for less than trtysix dollars
In gold. Had the rebellion been continued few
years longer it would have furnished an argument
against your theory potent than anything that
can be written He Is wise man that learns even
ASSIGNMENT that fell rapidly from par to four for one
in silver is doubt familiar to you; how the French
.asslgnats" although all the conscated property OF
Ernnn NIL fnr ia rqna
bad to worse until after little time they became OF
no commercial value; how the mandates" followed,
property which the owner OF this kind OF redeem
able paper' could at his option at any time reduce
valued amount in these mandates; and yet
now these too, become utterly worthless. We too,
continentai money! and the lesson that it teaches
been 80 soon forgotteni You speak Of dollar being
fast would Continental dollar have purchased at
the close Of the OF the Revolution or at any time
sinces Ola soldiers VINO receyca tnat na a q e
assured me time and again that 1t required hatful
OF 1t wherewth to buy breakfast. Call you this re.
demptionY Confederate States money Is another apt
Illustration OF the fasiy OF the principle that paper
money is the representative for labor that is due"
materials but Is it redeemedi Would 1t have
lost its value II It had been gold instead OF paperf
There are q few boxes full of this kind Of
money Representing labor" within my reach-pos-
siby the whSle batch might buy such breakfast
had IN your eys but oeege me- SssT SIR
whole OF 1t would redeem the smell OF breakfast at
Washington hotel II used to be said Of this kind
OF .redeemabe currency" even long before the
bellion put down, that persons at Richmond
carried 1t to market In their market baskets and
brought the articles purchased home In their purses.
According to your theory and your use OF The term
this, too, was redemption
meaning. webster defines it az "a piece Of metal
which certain characters are stamped, making 1t
legally current as money" worcester As "a piece
Of metal bearing legal stamp and made current as
moneymetallic or hard money as gold and silver.n
Can there be greater perverson OF terms than to
the real transaction Well perhaps 1t so; but then
1t is q very nconvenient "coin" to carry about In
one's breaches pockets When this theory shall be
carried into practice the wit humor Of the stories
OF the woman that advertised that she took In white
washing and OF the man that owed labor" and
potato patch replied. III you want your potatoes dug
fetch lem on,n viii have lost their. points.
Seriously, herein lies all your trouble days
labor IL no doubt good standard OF value: but Its
| inconvenience as a marketable and an exchangeabe
commodity has been and always will be, an insep-
arabic objection to 1t as money or circulating me-
\ dium Paper as it's representative has failed here
toiore and may fan again Is ~ therefore aSne
should be worth tho labor 1t costs TO pro-
duce it. No people, however savage, have failed
TO make that discovery. and have, therefore, fixed
upon something having real value As the equivalent
OF labor. The Wild African negro used "Cyprea"
shells-the "cowry" answering TO our gold and the
moneta' TO silver. so, too the savage American
| Indian used "wampum" Tor the same purpose, tho
coored cylindrical pieces OF manufactured shell
/ tiyillzed nations early rcsoried to a medium Of
i exchange for labor and its products, that was at
| the same time scarce. valuable and so compact
| a. 10 be easy OF transportation Gold and silver
| admirably answered all these requirements.
| Then too, both these metals have an intrinsic,
Inherent value In commerce. entirely independent OF
| that, that may be stamped upon coin made from
| them; and that value happily Is Just the thing tnat
You SO strenuousIy contend FOR, 1 =. labor; FOR IN
theory they are worth Just what II costs TO dig them
out OF the earth but In practice y mas been found
| labor pays better than digging Tor tue precious
metals. This is fortunate. for u prevents oyerpro
duction ana thus keeps the volume In circulation
steady For these reasons they become the standard
OF ali other values and therefore preferred by
medium to everything else Wherever this kind Of
money Is In use sudden contractons aud cxpan-
sions OF the circulating medium are difficult. and
commercial revusions and consequent failures sell
dom occur
This is reasonably true Of countries whose people
use in part paper currency based upon ana ~ all
times redeemable or convertible into gold or silver
at par, at the option OF the holder But not 90 with
"irredeemahlcr paper currency ike ours 0n this
commerce nor any other industrial pursuit place
any reliance. To-day II ~ contracted, ana all saable
pandod, and all these become dear. The issuers OF
paper money, aud especially Of that that Is IRE.
| deemabe IA coin, can play the game OF open anu
| Shut They can make money scarce and buy; then
they can make Il abundant and sell and everybody
but themselves, and especially your laboring man.
| suffers.
You win say we have an exclusive paper currency
now, and these misiortoncs have not befallcn us.
True: but II III mainly due TO the TACT that your
theory has not been adopted. The calamitcs have
been avoided because all business men have
believed, and still believe, that there Will
be speedy return TO the saie harbor
or resumption OF specie payments. But that
the currency the United States has not deprecia-
ted to lower point IL In great degree due TO the
fact that the government receives IN payment OF
all dues to II, customs alone excepted The govern
mens annual receipts for these dues are about equal
TO the whole amount OF its circulation. These rea-
sons have OF late kept the price Of grcenbacks M TO
about average OF about seventy iour cents on the
dollar the value OF which ts liked by the
constitution. But for these and other incidental
these paper issues would ere TINS have found
the dead level OF all the other lrredeeinabe paper'
That has gone before Il. for like all OF Us Kind and